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Photo: David Dickenson

A needed dose of digital nostalgia, Lil Nas X’s very first career feature is with burgeoning non-binary artist skaiwater, and upon first listen of “light!,” it’s immediately evident why.

Native to Nottingham, skaiwater has maintained a following since their early SoundCloud days. While the collaboration is seemingly a no-brainer, it’s actually not their first: the two alt-acts met and formed a relationship on the music-sharing platform, leading to skaiwater producing Lil Nas X's "Holiday” and joining him on an international tour.

“‘light!’ came together at the end of 2023," shares skaiwater. "I wanted to try my hand at a revival of the jerk wave and when Nas heard the record he immediately wanted to put a verse down. As a longtime friend, I think him and I feel like this was the right time to collaborate.”

Dance, rap, and electrifying EDM all at once, “light!” was produced alongside 9lives late last year. While Lil Nas X wasn’t on the original release, his verse grounds the track, the yang to skaiwater’s yin. The track’s accompanying video is interactive and immersive, catapulting the audience into a video game universe complete with chic NPCs and a cameo from skaiwater’s pup, of course.

What’s most significant about “light!” is the statement Lil Nas X and skaiwater make as collaborators rather than competitors. Both artists serve as bold and necessary rejections of gender standards, embracing fluidity and contradicting the projection of insecurity. Within that, coming together as artists prove there’s room for all of us to live in full color, and celebrating another won’t dim your light in the process.

Set to tour with Kenny Mason at the end of the month, skaiwater is steadily picking up speed as the new generation’s most promising. And with a Rick Owens sweater and nails slayed to the gods, they look good holding the torch.

Watch the "light!" video below: