BooSkills

Infobox musical artist
Name = BooSkills


Img_capt = Cover of BooSkills' single "Kesef".
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Guy Bouskila
Born =
Died =
Origin = Israel
Genre = Rap
Years_active = 2000-present
Label = TACT Records/Helicon
URL = [http://www.tact-records.com TACT-Records.com]

Guy Bouskila ( _he. גיא בוסקילה), commonly known by his rap name BooSkills ( _he. בוסקילז), is an Israeli rap artist. His rap name is a combination of his last name and the noun skills. He is part of the stable of artists on TACT Records, the label owned and run by rapper Subliminal.

Background

Booskills, originally known as Guy Bouskila, was born in Bat Yam, Israel, 1979. In 1986, when he was 6.5 years old, guy and his family moved to San Francisco, USA. A year later, his family decided to move on into the big city- Los Angeles, which was their last stop- for the time being, and the beginning of their new life. While all the children of the neighborhood were begging their parents for a new bicycle or skateboard, Guy wished for a trip to Israel, for his dream that stuck throughout the years was- to move back to Israel, for good. Guy studied in a public school named "Chester Elementary" that was placed in the valley of L.A In the early 1990's, a revolution came over the states and the hip hop scene became the mainstream of the time, what led to it becoming one of the leading music scenes in the world. After Guy and many others were exposed to hip hop, guy understood that being apart of the scene is unstoppable. In 1992 when Guy was at the young age of 13, (while studying at Milliken High), he began to write and compose songs that with days filled up many notebooks. Years have passed, Guy gained experience in writing and composing, believing at the same time that one day his musical dream will come true. In 1996, at the age of 16, Guy looked for an income source for him to be able to afford the equipment required to make his music and fulfill his dream. At first, he cut the hair of some friends on his block for very humble prices that allowed him to be able to buy basic equipment to start his career. Once the word got out, about how good a hair dresser he was, Guy found himself owning one of the high top hair salons in Beverly Glen, LA (1999). He had 10 employees, and his costumers included artists, actors and many celebrities of the time. Amongst them were; John Travolta, Paula Abdul and Richard Dreiphus. During his hair dressing days, his close friends were well aware of the fact that Guy dealt with music on his free time and that is when his infamous nickname began to stick- Booskills, a combination of his last name (Bouskila) and his multi skills with his hands and music (skills). In 2001, 2 new rappers- Subliminal and the Shadow arrived in LA in order to visit one of Guys' close friend- David Levy. That same friend introduced Booskills to Subliminal and the Shadow, and from that very first meeting the click and chemistry between the 3 was obvious to see. Thanks to that introduction the three began working on collaborations, and after Booskills offered subliminal some of his own original material, the cooperation was official. With days to come, those original pieces that Booskills offered turned into major hit songs from the album "the light and shadow" (ha or ve ha zel- of subliminal and the Shadow) that was released to stores during 2002. Those hits are the well known "tni li" (give me) and "zazim im ha bas" (moving with the base). Those songs brought great success with them and gave Booskills his first exposure and first real step closer to fulfilling his dream. Subliminal and the Shadow went on a grand tour, as long as a year and a half, and were blessed with great success in Israel and around the world. Unfortunately Booskills was on the other side of the world at the time, what strengthened his will to fulfill two of his biggest dreams- moving back to Israel and of course, make use of his good connections and musical exposure and sign a contract with TACT (Israeli Hip Hop Label held by Subliminal and David Levy at the time). Not too long passed until Booskills made the move, the move to the holly land- Israel, and was signed as an official musical artist in TACT and began working on his first solo album – "shney olamot" (Best of Both Worlds) right away. In 2004, TACT released a collection introducing the entire variety of TACT artists (mishpahat tact-Tact family). Booskills took a great part in that project (all-stars- golden album), and took part in the songs- "ba moadon" (in the club), "kessef" (money), "tinananai", "all-stars" and many more. More over, he joined the TACT tour of the time. During his work on his solo album, Booskills recorded collaborations with all TACT artists. For example the song- "ha maavak" (the struggle) from Shai 360's solo album that was released in 2005. In addition to that, Booskills cooperated with other artist in Israel and out such as Shlomi Shabbat, the duo "Pop Up" and more… Booskills took a great part in making remixes of songs and turning them into club hits such as "kabel", "at shigat" (u drove me crazy), "ein gvulot" (no limits), "tistakel allay ahshav" (look at me now), "toro" etc. Nowadays Booskills has recently released his mixtape, an introduction to the upcoming and also one of the best most invested and impressive mix tapes of all Israeli music. The mixtape includes 34 song segments, and hour of non stop music, collaborations with top artists of the Israeli music such as Tzvika Pik, Shlomi Shabbat, Subliminal, the Shadow and all Tact artists, Aon Cher, Kobi (signed in interscoop), Chuckie D and Jenna Lourens. We can also find the amazing production of the legendary producer JR that his production resumes' includes Jay Z, Rihanna (SOS), Destiny's Child, Snoop Dog and so on. The mixtape is a rare collectable item that includes exclusive segments never to be heard anywhere else, amongst known hits and songs, special versions of songs and 8 strips from the album- Best of Both Worlds. Main sponsors showed interest in the mixtape, and in the end Subaru were the ones who gave full sponsorship on the project. The mix tape is just a small taste of what Booskills really is and made of, the main dish will arrive very soon- in his solo album yet to come- "Shtei Olamot" (Best of Both Worlds).

Discography

tudio Albums

olo

* "Shnei Olamot" (Hebrew: שני עולמות, "Two Worlds") (projected 2008)

With TACT (Tel-Aviv City Tel-Aviv)

* "TACT All-Stars" (Hebrew: תאקט אול סטארז, "TACT All-Stars") (2004)

ingles

With TACT

From Booskills Best of Both Worlds

*"Harakdan HaAutomati" (the automatic dancer) with Tzvika Pik.
*"Shakshuka"

Non-album singles

* "Shir Shel Rega Ehad" (Hebrew: שיר של רגע אחד, "Song for One Moment") (2005)

From TACT All-Stars

* "Kesef" (Hebrew: כסף, "Money") feturing singer Hadas Shalev (2004)
* "Bamoadon" (Hebrew "In the club") featuring R&B singer Kobe (2004)
* "Tinainai" (Hebrew: טינאינאי, "Tinainai") (2004)

Collaborations

*"Holechet Ad Hasof" (going till the end) with israeli pop group, Pop Up.
*"belibi" (in my heart) with israeli singer, Shlomi Shabat.
*"Harakdan HaAutomati" (the automatic dancer) with Tzvika Pik.
*"Hy'de" official remix with Shlomi Shabat.
*"Muzika" (Music) with Itzik Shamli.

Related links

* [http://tact-records.com Tact Records site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/subliminaltactrecordings Official Booskills site]