Editing Skiz Fernando (section)

===2000–present: WordSound's decline and later solo projects===
Despite being an influential underground label and a pioneer of the illbient genre in the 1990s,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Rick|title=Various Artists - Shake the Nations Album Reviews, Songs & More|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/shake-the-nations-mw0000031284|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Fintoni|first1=Laurent|title=And this one time...the best Bandcamp releases of the month, June 2013|url=https://www.factmag.com/2013/06/13/and-this-one-time-the-best-bandcamp-release-of-the-month-june-2013/7/|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|access-date=August 23, 2023|date=June 13, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sensational & Kruton unveil 'You In The Right Spot'|url=https://www.factmag.com/2016/01/27/sensational-you-in-the-right-spot-bintus-milo-smee/|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|access-date=August 23, 2023|date=January 27, 2016}}</ref> in the early 2000s WordSound started gradually fading away from the mainstream media. In 2004, ''[[XLR8R]]'' magazine reported the label's "disappearance".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Serwer|first=Jesse|date=October 2004|issue=81|title=Sound-Ink, Brooklyn Beats and the Agriculture|magazine=[[XLR8R]]|page=96|quote=But Sound-Ink isn't the only label filling the ADD-beats-meet-high-concept hip-hop void left open by the disappearance of Skiz Fernando's Wordsound Records.}}</ref> In a letter published by the magazine in one of the later issues, Skiz Fernando explained that he didn't receive a $38,000 payment from one of the distributors in 2001, and in 2004 their European distributor {{ill|Energie für Alle|de}} closed, owing the label $80,000. The artist believed those factors ultimately led to the decline in visibility of an already underground label, which he was running from his living room.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=December 2004|issue=83|title=Letters: WordSound Sounds Off|magazine=[[XLR8R]]|page=16}}</ref> Fernando had also moved from Brooklyn to his hometown [[Baltimore]] due to "skyrocketing rents".{{sfn|Wheaton|2022|p=151}} Nevertheless, he continued releasing music through WordSound over the years, but kept it mostly to his solo projects.<ref name="bandcamp_daily" />

The third album in Spectre's trilogy,<ref name="exclaim_end" /> ''The End'', was released in January 2000<ref name="Bush">Bush, John "[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p206666/biography|pure_url=yes}} Spectre Biography]", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation (also published in ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wr1lmklsD8QC&dq=spectre+%22the+illness%22&pg=PT461 All Music Guide to Hip-Hop]'' by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, John Bush, Backbeat Books, 2003, pp. 450–451, {{ISBN|0-87930-759-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87930-759-2}})</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line --> |title=Reviews: Must hear|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86qdz9zBkJYC&pg=PA28|magazine=[[CMJ New Music Report]]|page=28|date=January 31, 2000|access-date=24 August 2023}}</ref> (the release date is sometimes reported as late 1999).<ref>{{cite web|title=Spectre Discography|url=http://www.wordsound.com/spectredisc.html|publisher=WordSound|access-date=August 24, 2023}}</ref> In his review for ''Exclaim!'', Thomas Quinlan highlighted the album's atmospheric nature and its blend of exotic Spectre's instrumentals with tracks featuring guest vocalists.<ref name="exclaim_end" /> ''The Wire'' magazine included ''The End'' in their list of the best albums of the year 2000.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line --> |title=2000 Rewind|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/charts/2000-rewind|magazine=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|page=|date=January 2001|issue=203|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> The Ill Saint's third compilation album, ''Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 3: The III School'', was also released in 2000. Mike DaRonco of AllMusic thought the album featured "hard-hitting beats" combined with "street-smart wit",<ref>{{cite web|last1=Daronco|first1=Mike|title=Various Artists - Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 3: The III School Album Reviews, Songs & More|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/subterranean-hitz-vol-3-the-iii-school-mw0000068608|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref> while ''Exclaim!''{{'s}} Thomas Quinlan found the album "worth repeated listens", despite feeling that some of the tracks were disappointing.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Quinlan|first1=Thomas|title=Various – Subterranean Hitz Vol. 3|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/various_artists-subterranean_hitz_vol_3|website=[[Exclaim!]]|access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

While working on his follow-up solo album, Spectre released two albums through Belgian label Quatermass.<ref>{{cite web|title=Spectre Bio|url=http://www.wordsound.com/spectrebio.html|publisher=WordSound|access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref> 2002's ''Parts Unknown'' was based on previously unreleased material and was a collaborative album with the rapper Sensational.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographie Sensational|url=https://www.laut.de/Sensational|website=[[laut.de]]|access-date=August 25, 2023|language=de}}</ref> The second Quatermass album was ''Retrospectre'' (2004) compilation. ''Dusted'' magazine's Casey Rae-Hunter noted the album's "captivating freshness", despite it spanning more than a decade's worth of material.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rae-Hunter|first1=Casey|title=Dusted Reviews: Spectre - Retrospectre|url=http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/1473|website=Dusted|date=June 20, 2004|access-date=August 29, 2023}}</ref>

Spectre's fourth album,<ref name="allmusic_psy">{{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Rick|title=Spectre - Psychic Wars Album Reviews, Songs & More|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/psychic-wars-mw0001294119|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 29, 2023}}</ref> ''Psychic Wars'', was released in 2003.<ref name="dusted_psy">{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Mason|author-link=Mason Jones (guitarist)|title=Dusted Reviews: Spectre - Psychic Wars|url=http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/667|website=Dusted|access-date=August 29, 2023}}</ref> In her review for ''XLR8R'', Selena Hsu called the album "considerably less sludgy and not as obscured by [Spectre's] trademark impenetrable haze",<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Hsu|first=Selena|date=|title=Spectre — Psychic Wars / Sensational – Natural Shine|magazine=[[XLR8R]]|page=70}}</ref> while Heinrich Deisl of the German magazine {{ill|Skug (magazine)|lt=''Skug''|de|Skug – Journal für Musik}} named it the most accessible release from Spectre.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Deisl|first=Heinrich|date=2003|title=Spectre – "Psychic Wars" / Mentol Nomad – "Mentallica and its Inhabitants"|url=https://skug.at/psychic-wars-mentallica-and-its-inhabitants-spectre/|lang=de|magazine=Skug|issue=55|page=|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> Rick Anderson of AllMusic commended "more energetic beats and lively interpolations of exotic foreign musical elements", but criticized the beginning of the album as being unnecessary.<ref name="allmusic_psy" /> ''Dusted''{{'s}} [[Mason Jones (guitarist)|Mason Jones]] thought the music on the album was "melancholy and slow", as it featured "orchestral stabs and ultra-low synth bass dominating the doom-laden sonic environments". He also noted that some of the samples fit "rhythmically awkwardly", but he believed it enhances the mood of the album.<ref name="dusted_psy" />

WordSound released the fourth Crooklyn Dub Outernational's compilation, ''Certified Dope, Vol. 4: Babylon's Burning'', in 2004.<ref name="wire_dope4">{{cite magazine|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line --> |title=2004 Rewind|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/charts/2004-rewind|magazine=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|pages=39–49|date=January 2005|issue=251|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> AllMusic's Chris Nickson called it a "good summation of the state of global dub today from a label that stays permanently on the edge".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nickson|first1=Chris|title=Crooklyn Dub Outernational - Certified Dope, Vol. 4: Babylon's Burning Album Reviews, Songs & More|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/certified-dope-vol-4-babylons-burning-mw0000440198|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> ''XLR8R'' reviewer Daniel Siwek commended the collective for their ability to provide a diverse range of musical styles while striking a perfect balance between classic elements and a modern sound.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Siwek|first=Daniel|date=February 24, 2004|title=Various Artists – Certified Dope Vol. 4: Babylon's Burning|url=https://xlr8r.com/reviews/certified-dope-vol-4-babylon-s-burning/|magazine=[[XLR8R]]|issue=75|page=90|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> ''Exclaim!''{{'s}} David Dacks thought the album deviates from the traditional dub sound, instead "[continuing] this series with an assemblage of spine crushers and outward-bound riddims".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dacks|first1=David|title=Various – Certified Dope Vol. 4|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/various_artists-certified_dope_vol_4|website=[[Exclaim!]]|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> ''The Wire'' named it one of the best albums of the year.<ref name="wire_dope4" />

Spectre released his next solo album, ''Transcendent'', in 2006 through [[digital distribution]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Transcendent, by Spectre|url=https://therealspectre.bandcamp.com/album/transcendent|website=[[Bandcamp]]|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> It was followed by 2008's ''Internal Dynasty'', released digitally through WordSound,<ref>{{cite web|title=Internal Dynasty, by Spectre|url=https://therealspectre.bandcamp.com/album/internal-dynasty|website=[[Bandcamp]]|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> with a limited vinyl release through Monkey Tool label.<ref>{{cite web|title=Monkey Tool 09 - Word Sound LP 54 - Spectre|url=https://www.toolboxrecords.com/en/product/8232/hip-hop/monkey-tool-09-word-sound-lp-54/|publisher=Monkey Tool|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> Mike Lupica of ''Dusted'' magazine noted that the album "[remains] systemically disquieting, off-kilter and reassuringly distanced from any current trend in hip hop".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lupica|first1=Mike|title=Dusted Reviews: Spectre - Internal Dynasty|url=http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4878|website=Dusted|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> In 2010, the artist released the next album by Spectre, titled ''Death Before Dying''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Death Before Dying, by Spectre|url=https://therealspectre.bandcamp.com/album/death-before-dying|website=[[Bandcamp]]|access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref>

In 2012, Spectre released his ninth solo album, ''The True & Living''. The album was funded through [[Kickstarter]], and released both digitally and on vinyl. Laurent Fintoni, writing for ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]'' magazine, highlighted the album's "crisp and snappy" beats, but warned younger readers that it may sound dated.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fintoni|first1=Laurent|title=And this one time...the best Bandcamp releases of the month, June 2013|url=https://www.factmag.com/2013/06/13/and-this-one-time-the-best-bandcamp-release-of-the-month-june-2013/7/|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|access-date=August 31, 2023|date=June 13, 2013}}</ref> ''Exclaim!''{{'s}} reviewer Thomas Quinlan called ''The True & Living'' a "dark and brooding" album, noting the consistency of Spectre's style and his improvements to it.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Quinlan|first1=Thomas|title=Spectre – The True & Living|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/spectre-true_living|website=[[Exclaim!]]|access-date=August 31, 2023}}</ref> Spectre's next project, ''Brand New Second Hand'', was released digitally in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brand New Second Hand, by Spectre|url=https://therealspectre.bandcamp.com/album/brand-new-second-hand|website=Bandcamp|access-date=August 31, 2023}}</ref>

The tenth solo album by Spectre, ''The Last Shall Be First'', was released in 2016. It was funded through Kickstarter, and was asserted to be the final album released as Spectre.<ref name="bandcamp_daily" /> To promote the Kickstarter campaign, Skiz Fernando released ''Doom & Boom: The Spectre Chronicles (1995-2015)'', a free compilation album which included tracks from every album previously released. Philip Freeman, in his article for ''[[Bandcamp Daily]]'', described the album's sound as "beats verging on [[Industrial music|industrial]] at times, and the bass as tar-like as ever".<ref name="bandcamp_daily" /> In 2021, Fernando released [[Extended play|EP]] titled ''Èminence Grise''. It was released digitally under the pseudonym Tha Ill Saint, with a limited vinyl release through  a German label LOWHOP-Records.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eminence Grise EP, by Tha ILL Saint|url=https://therealspectre.bandcamp.com/album/eminence-grise-ep|website=Bandcamp|access-date=August 31, 2023}}</ref>