yo, bro will kill you for a band

Edward Skeletrix and Brennan Jones are small but powerful artists in the “meme rap” genre, and their story is one of betrayal. While they used to be an iconic new duo, their recent falling out has made waves in the rap community through YouTube and Instagram comment sections. The pair’s bitter falling out, while intriguing in its own right, represents a new trend in the ever-developing underground rap genre: instant gratification and its chokehold on the new generation of rappers. In a subgenre where impressions can indicate “success” more than streams, artists have conflated fame with artistry. Now, the put-ons, marketed come-ups, and connections that veteran artists saw as merely a stepping stone in their career represent the end goals of younger rappers. And they don’t want to wait for this attention, either. Like Jones, many feel entitled to the support they receive from fans, even crave it. As they itch for another hit of visibility, younger artists seem willing to sacrifice their creativity, their relationships, even their individuality, to attain it.

Brennan Jones didn’t always fall under this classification. The 19-year-old grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where his aggressive yet comedic rapping style first took off. With outrageous lyrics and self-effacing jokes, Jones established an unserious tone for otherwise serious topics, keeping fans eager for his next unpredictable bar. He particularly gained popularity on TikTok, Soundcloud, and Instagram with viral clips and novel sounds. Bass heavy beats, out of tune piano lines, and bizarre soundbites combine with his uniquely goofy voice to make a pretty innovative style of “meme rap.” Brennan Jones has dropped two major projects: Brennan Jones 1 (2024) and Brennan (2025), which have put him on the map as one of the biggest up and coming artists in the rap underground.

Beyond his music career, Brennan’s egregiously mismatched looks from coveted designer clothing propelled him into the fashion industry. The Sterling Ruby, Martine Rose, and Dior pieces that adorn his body in Instagram photos caught the eyes of fans and fashion brands, mostly because he wears them in such eclectic ways that cannot be ignored. Bleached jeans, huge boots, and multicolored sweaters have secured him modeling positions at Mowa Lola, Marc Jacobs, and some smaller Instagram brands. His attention-hungry foray into the fashion world is yet another example of the antics he’s willing to pull to increase his likeability.

Edward Skeletrix, legally Edward King Bass IV, originally started making music in 2013 under the name CIGHT. His work under CIGHT is very melodic and sample-heavy, with blasting trap beats in the background. The 27-year-old released his early music and clothing while working at a psychiatric facility in Baltimore, Maryland. However, when his experiences with coworkers and patients “triggered a psychotic episode that lasted a year,” Edward stepped away from both roles. 

As his mental health struggles subsided, he turned his creative mind back towards music. He has released two albums to date, Skeletrix Language (2023) and Museum Music (2025) under the names Edward Skeletrix and Im A Monster, respectively. Edward’s music, much like Brennan’s, is hard to pin down. Lacing his songs with stylized autotune, heavy bass, and electronic madness, he concocts a warbly, surreal atmosphere. “Typical Rap Songs 1-12,” a rage rap mini-genre of Edward Skeletrix songs, satirize the now saturated concept of a rap song. Edward is making meaningful music via his execution of rap slop: songs that use similar lyricism, imagery, and beats to create a seemingly basic sound, but with layers of intricacies to uncover. Similarly, Edward creates a different mini-genre of “(Psychosis)” songs with the intention to evoke what psychosis feels like, with verses delivered loosely and desperately. 

As both employ outlandish production and even more outlandish lyrics, Skeletrix and Jones were obviously a perfect pairing. In a perfect world, some of Skeletrix’s more meaningful content might even have pushed Jones to elevate his artistry. Yet, Skeletrix’s same lyrical talent might have clued fans into the source of the infection that would soon cause Jones and Skeletrix’s relationship to decay. In most of his songs, Skeletrix harps on similar lyrical themes, such as human desperation for money and fame. With song titles like “Yo Bro Will Kill You For A Band,” “Killing Over Likes,” and “Making Art for Money,” it’s clear Skeletrix opposes the idea that fame and fortune should drive art. He laughs at those who mask greed with passion and artistry, not realizing one such artist was developing right under his wing. 

Fans first noticed a change in this new rap duo’s relationship in July when Brennan Jones posted a strange video on his Instagram that has since been deleted. It contained a clip from the 1998 movie American History X and a caption announcing he was going to drop a diss track on Edward Skeletrix. The post’s deletion led fans to wonder if Jones executed a classic tongue-in-cheek bit or whether this signified an actual feud. The conflict that nobody yet knew the details of was then blown wide open during Edward’s interview on the YouTube channel Our Generation Music.

The interview that started with small talk quickly morphed into a tell-all for Brennan’s toxic treatment towards his new mentor. The story was that Brennan had come from Jacksonville to New York City, hoping to become famous on social media. Edward saw potential in Brennan, but Brennan lacked drive. So, Edward started creative directing for Brennan, hoping he could guide the young phenom to the success he craved. Edward advised Brennan what color to dye his hair, what clothes to wear, and what songs to drop. “I was just helping him out of the kindness of my heart because I thought we were friends”, explained Edward. 

Edward then negotiated a record deal for Brennan that entitled him to $150,000 for 15 songs, an extremely high offer given the fact that Brennan had never dropped a song on any major streaming service. V2 Records offered Edward $2,000 as compensation for being Brennan’s creative director. Somehow even this courtesy fee peeved Brennan; Edward remarked that Brennan kept saying, “I don’t know about the two bands, bro. I don’t know.” After a while, Brennan asked, “Edward, can you just ask them to give me all the money instead of you?” As commands replaced conversation and money became Brennan’s sole focus, Edward realized that he and his protégé were not really friends. To make matters worse, Brennan didn’t release some of the songs he promised to release, causing the record label to panic. Miraculously, Edward leveraged the situation and singlehandedly negotiated with V2 to give Brennan $300,000 for ten more songs. Maybe this is where Brennan takes the money? Nope! He doesn’t take the money, and he doesn’t drop the songs either. Edward chose not to look for logic in this decision, as he wasn’t making a single cent off of Brennan Jones. 

Sadly, this business conflict took a domestic turn as Brennan’s rising fame pushed him to behave psychotically. Brennan let people stay at his and Edward’s house without notifying Edward, he allegedly made racist comments towards his girlfriend through an anonymous text message, and he started acting violently toward Edward and other friends. A new roommate and upcoming artist Matt Ox irritated Brennan, and he started displaying psychotic behavior. Edward spoke on this, explaining that Ox heard “Brennan screaming psychotically at the top of his lungs.” Ox continued to Skeletrix, “Brennan kicked me out of the crib. I’m homeless again.” Matt Ox communicated with Edward later that day, “You didn’t hear everything he was saying about you? … [Brennan] kept saying ‘I’m gonna kill Edward in his sleep, I’m gonna kill Edward in his sleep.’” 

Admirably, Edward Skeletrix remained calm and resilient during the entire interview, even as he discussed Brennan’s death threats against him. Edward had the final word at the beginning of the interview: “I don’t associate with Brennan Jones anymore.”

The conflict between Brennan and Edward happened due to the burning desire for fame in Brennan Jones’ mind. He didn’t take the money from the record label because he thought Edward would get some credit. In his twisted world, he was solely responsible for his meteoric rise to fame, but the truth is he could never have made it to where he is without Edward Skeletrix. Even though he is still young, Brennan Jones must realize this truth before he can be truly great. He’s innovative, unique, and fashionable, but he lacks any control over his cravings. This happens far too often to young musicians, and I think it’s due to a deeper lie that infects the music industry; that fame is supreme, and nothing you do matters if you aren’t famous. The unfortunately popular sentiment is that you should kill your bro if it gets you two bands and 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

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Quinn Ross is a freshman in the College majoring in Chemistry on the pre-med track. Something he loves to do is make clothes.