Irish Hip Hop
Hip Hop is a form of artistic expression that started in New York in the Seventies. Since then it has evolved into many different sub-genres, and spread across the entire world. You can find local hip hop in any country on earth. Most of it is unknown, doesn’t get into the mainstream, and is ‘underground’ as we call it. There are many different styles of Emceeing and Beat Making, Scratching and Break-Dancing. They all started in America, but since then you can find those elements of the culture everywhere.
Local Emcees (rappers) write about their lives, and represent where they’re from. The best of them rhyme in their own accent and write about the truth of what happens in their lives. There are some who use fake American accents and act like they are from there, but this is frowned upon in the culture. Don’t get me wrong, some of the hip hop in the underground is complete trash, emcees that don’t have the proper set up, using cheap microphones and screaming into them, something I am guilty of doing back when I was 16 and just getting started. Some emcees can’t flow at all, or just write rhymes that don’t connect, or don’t represent their life, instead, they imitate their idols and write gangster lyrics and things like that. Yet they still share their songs, hoping for feedback to get better but most people don’t even take them on and just dismiss it as trash. But there are others, who know what they are at and can captivate you with a song, that garner respect from their fans and are known all across the island by the community.
I became a hip hop artist at twelve years of age, when I heard the fresh prince rapping ‘Boom, Shake the Room’ on a dance song tape my aunt had given me. I was enthralled with the style, it wasn’t like other music, the lyrics were faster and resonated more with me than any other songs on that tape. They had real meaning to me. The metaphors and rhymes really stimulated my imagination and I just thought it was the best thing I had ever heard. Then, the Fresh Prince changed his name to Will Smith and came out with songs like ‘Men in Black’ and ‘Getting Jiggy with it’. It sounded really good to me, so I got a notebook and copied down all the lyrics to ‘Men in Black’ by ear, to rap it along with the track. That was the start of it, and I did that for a good while, until my uncle bought me Eminems ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’.
I was thirteen by then and the profanity and sick and twisted rhymes just made my day, I was convinced this was the coolest thing I had ever heard, and I decided I wanted to be an Emcee. I started writing my own rhymes, very simplistic at first, but over the years they eventually developed into more complex patterns and flows that began to mean something to people and actually sounded good! I managed to get a wee cheap microphone and record a few songs, which went round the town and got a good response. I wrote rhymes with a friend and we recorded them and sent them to people online, ringing up Radio DJs and stuff but we didn’t really get anywhere.
I linked up with another local Emcee in the following years and we did a proper album, printed up copies and sold them, got some gigs around the place and did pretty well. But that’s when schizophrenia struck and I spent the next ten years in and out of psychiatric hospitals. But through it all I kept writing, ever since I first heard hip hop it was like a bug, I couldn’t stop writing because I really enjoyed it, and I could work through problems by letting out what was on my chest in a song. I kept releasing tunes online throughout those years, something I still do. I believe my love of hip hop got me through the darkest of times, and was a real life line, without it I might not even be here.
I had dreams of making It big back in the day, but as the years went on I gradually accepted that this would just be a hobby. Since I first performed, I think I have made about 20 quid from this hip hop. A combination of lack of work ethic, schizophrenia troubles and people just not caring. It is very hard to find success in Irish hip hop. But the enjoyment I get from it, and the response I get from crowds and listeners online keeps me writing. I don’t think I could stop if I tried. I am addicted to hip hop.
The genre is still considered an American thing, and the response of most people is that an Irish emcee must think he is black. It’s not respected by the general public, and Irish emcees can even be seen as a joke, by those who aren’t fans, and just don’t understand it. I’ve often heard people say that it’s just talking to a beat. We have to defeat those negative views and accept it for what it is, another part of the culture that has merged with the one here in Ireland.
The biggest problem with Irish Hip Hop is that it is hard to find. Unless you know an artists Soundcloud or Youtube, you’re not going to be able to listen to them. And the amateurs that I mentioned earlier often put people off it once they stumble across them. There are no Irish publications such as magazines or anything where you could follow artists careers, and you really have to be ‘in the know’ to find the good stuff.
The general consensus is changing on Irish Hip Hop though, and people are beginning to take it seriously. The support is growing, emcees are getting on television and radio, and in the paper, some doing big gigs, and achieving a lot of success. The Irish hip hop scene is still in its infancy compared to the U.K and America though, and I would say it will be a few years yet before anything big happens, but emcees like me will no doubt keep making music until then.