“I put your favorite rapper on that sangin’-rappin’ and shit,” Skooly asserts on “Bacc on My Shit” from his 2015 mixtape Blacc Jon Gotti. The Atlanta artist’s voice—somewhere between nasally snarl and warped trill—splits an imaginary line that divides swag rap and contorted R&B. It was his calling card long before the rise of so-called “weirdo” rappers who wanted in on the magic of melody. That release marked the first solo outing for the now 24-year-old who got his initial tastes of fame a decade ago with the exuberant Atlanta group Rich Kidz.

Back then, they were a meatier outfit comprised of Skooly (then known as Skool Boi), RKaelub, Shad Da God (then known as Rich Kid Shawty), Jose Guapo (then known as Juney) and Baby Charles. Their 2009 breakout single “Wassup” was lightning in a bottle, propelled by Skooly’s sing-song hook. It was also the first time he discovered his knack for melodies.

“I found out in the booth that I could hold a tune,” he says over the phone from Atlanta. At that time, the city was in the midst of a renaissance that, in hindsight, formed the bedrock of some of today’s most popular trends. The futuristic swag era, as it has come to be known, saw the rise of fellow sing-rap stars like Yung L.A., Travis Porter, and Roscoe Dash. All were stylistic innovators using the power of melody, of Southern drawl and buoyant intonations, to counterbalance the heavier sound and themes of trap music—a collision that has only been fully realized in recent years. But even among peers several years his senior, Skooly stood out. There was something special in that voice, a quality that so easily rendered basic words into irresistible sing-a-longs. He attracted co-signs from peers and vets alike: producer London on Da Track, for example, immortalized his voice with his now-iconic drop, while a then-budding Future let him dominate his 2011 “Freeband Gang” anthem.

Skooly is a link between a bygone era of Southern rap and the current generation, the living thread that connects trap and “ringtone rap” to the viscous sing-song variety of today. It’s not a stretch to see how the quirks of Skooly’s voice helped prime our ears for the warbles of artists like Kodak Black, YFN Lucci, or YNW Melly. Newcomer SahBabii has often mentioned Rich Kidz in the same breath as Young Thug—the same Young Thug who was still a rising rapper when he nabbed a feature on the group’s “100 Dollar Autograph.” There, the eccentricities that would characterize Thug’s later flows were dwarfed by Skooly’s crooning.

On songs like the impossibly bubbly “Na Na Boo Boo,” or the syrupy balladeering of the “Sunrise Interlude” from 2014’s Everybody Eat Bread, hints that he could’ve maybe moonlighted as an R&B star in a former life shine through. It’s not so much the singing itself as it is the audacity of the vocals—unworried about traditional standards of prettiness, as they channel unadulterated joy, or lust, or pain. “I just always liked melody and old, soulful music, and I use it as a reference,” he says. “I started experimenting, trying different things, trying to bring that soulful sound back.” He counts singers like Rose Royce, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and Kem among the artists that influence him. And likewise, he isn’t shy about counting himself among his city’s long list of influential artists.