When Skyler Lewis, who performs as LBE Scar, released two EPs within four days of each other last month, he didn’t bury the lead about why. “My kids. That’s it. Plain and simple,” he says. “My daughter Zalaya and my son Junior are the reason I keep going strong. That’s why I gave the world these projects.”
The Canton, Ohio artist dropped The Chronicles of Scar, Vol. 1 on October 27 and followed it up with Vol. 2 on October 31. That’s ten tracks and just over 23 minutes of music in less than a week, all driven by his children. The timing wasn’t arbitrary. After performing in Cleveland, Lewis says he knew this was his path. “I knew this is what I was destined to be,” he says. “I’m here to stay.”
The clearest example of that emotional drive shows up on “Karma” from Vol. 1. It’s a two-and-a-half-minute track that deals with betrayal and the cost of broken loyalty. Lewis doesn’t pull punches here. The lyrics address investing in people who didn’t hold up their end, cutting ties when trust gets shattered, and building something on his own terms without waiting for handouts. “F*ck a handout and do it on my feet,” he spits on the track. It’s raw but not performative, the kind of honesty that comes from actually living through what you’re talking about.
His stage name backs that up. LBE stands for Loyalty Before Everything, and Lewis treats it less like branding and more like a filter for who stays in his circle. “This whole process is personal,” he says. “It ain’t got nothing to do with music anymore.” That mindset runs through both EPs, which you can find on Spotify. Vol. 2 includes tracks like “Calling Me Bae” and “Switch Up” that explore relationship dynamics and the friction between public perception and private reality.
What makes Lewis’s story more interesting is the context around it. He’s childhood friends with YBL SINATRA, the son of Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. They grew up around the corner from each other in Cleveland, and that connection is about to pay off in a big way. On November 29, LBE Scar opens for all five members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony with YBL at the Agora Theater in Cleveland (tickets here). Before that, he’s hitting New York with SINATRA for interviews and performances. “I just want to give a special shoutout to my brother SINATRA for staying loyal, plugging me in, and making all this happen,” Lewis says.
The momentum is building fast. His tour launches in February 2026, with the full schedule dropping on New Year’s Day. Dee Dee Vision, who Scar calls “a goat with the camera,” will be handling upcoming visuals. There’s also a third EP in the works and a major collaboration with SINATRA.
For someone who started writing poetry and performing before age six, who worked his way up through promotion and management roles at Hit Camp Records and Loedagang before starting his own venture, Scar Management, this current chapter feels earned. But when you ask what’s driving it all, the answer stays the same. It’s Zalaya. It’s Junior. Everything else is just execution.
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