I'm
constantly scrounging information on hiphop from ireland since im from (t)here,
graf wise Irish heads have put together definitive
websites about the local writing scene, but musicwise a complete history hasn't
been done - here's a brief rundown from most of what I've gathered so-far, its
building really nicely thanks to a lot of info sent in, so im going to chop
up and index the content at some point, I'll be constantly restructuring this
thing and updating the information, anyhows...
-The 93 hiphop boom-
The two main names from this era were Marxman and ScaryÉire...
- Marxman was two Dubliners (Hollis, Oisin) and two British Jamaicans (Phrase, DJ KI), they brought out the album '33 Revolutions Per Minute' on Talkin' Loud in 92 which exercised Irish traditional music within a hiphop framework, it featured collaborations with contemporary trad guru Donal Lunny (dad of group member Oisin Lunny), Sinead O' Connor ( who has also worked with McLyte on the track 'I want [your hands on me] ) on the track 'Ship Ahoy', DJ Premier ( who produced 'Drifing' ), Trad Group 'The Storm' and several others. They gained notoriety for the track 'Sad Affair' about the North which was banned by the BBC, for featuring lyrics such as "a six county state is a bastard state, so why o why can't we all integrate". That was followed up by the 'Cynic' ep in 94 which cut down on the trad influences and included some mellow instrumental only tracks (influenced by hanging round with Massive Attack), then came the 'Time Capsule' Lp on the More Rockers Label which included some of the ep tracks and some more, was received without too much fuss - since then the group branched out doing other work, including intro music for Teilifis na Gaeilge, running their 'Pawnshop' label, Oisin Lunnys soundtrack work, as well as recording under the name 'Minatone' on Howie Bs Pussyfoot Label. Also, Hollis Byrne from Marxman was a very early pioneer of graffiti in Dublin, writing under the name of SUT-ONE (Supreme Urban Terrorist), and did a legendary piece in the North Strand in 1987 which inspired many of todays writers from the area. Hollis has also recently resurfaced music wise, laying down vocals for Bristol based crew 'Offside'.
- Then there's the legendary ScaryÉire, the pioneers of hiphop in Ireland, there are mad stories about these guys... they toured with U2 (as did Marxman), opened for acts like Gangstarr, Beastie Boys (who they toured europe with), House of Pain and Public Enemy... had a track 'Lost for Words' on the 1993 album 'Planet Rap' from Tommyboy (theres a link to an audioclip at www.cdnow.com), recorded a debut album, including production from Howie B, Tricky, Cutmaster Swift, DJ Mek and Sam Scuttery-Eye, and then got screwed by Island Records, who dumped them but kept the rights to the album, never releasing it... a criminal act, those who have heard the album tracks on bootleg testify to its dopeness. In 95 Scary reappeared on London independent label 11 records and released 'Dole Q/That's no good to me' on 12", the former song their various encounters on dole day, the latter a rugged, frenzied cypher, both amounting to some of the most original hiphop ever, then all went quiet, ... ScaryÉire were ahead of their time, the local music industry just unable to comprehend their product, preferring instead to stay with 'safe' rave and indie rock clones... in the last year or so however, hiphop here is fighting back, the growth of the graf scene reflects this, and Scary material in bootleg form continues to be highly prized by local heads.
(
During this era, the documentary 'Celtic Grooves' that explores hiphops assimilation
into Irish culture was compiled by Key Feature Productions, check out an article
on it here. )
-Presently-
- Since then Scary's DJ, Mek, has done some remixes, including a mix of 'Blow The Whole Joint Up' for Monkey Mafia and 'Monument' for the Frames DC, he has also been gaining worldwide recognition for his turntablism skills, including bringing the house down at the battle of 98 mixing championships in Dublin, releasing some class mix tapes [1] [2] and is currently at work on a breaks Lp, also, at long last, ScaryÉire material is set to be re-released through Dublins Urban Breakz, here's hoping maybe the group will reform if their music gets enough rotation.
- Emcee wise presently at work is Cork resident Exile Eye from 'The Invincibles' crew, whos tape 'Optic Nerve' was the standout vocal hiphop release from Ireland for 98, featuring Buster C and with production aided in part by Galway dj Hazo (who runs the 'Ill-Dependents' label) the whole package is consistently dope. Also, The Invincibles have just released a new mix tape and an Exile Eye 12" ep should be out this summer.
-check out the pure instrumental hiphop of 'Deep Burial', on the Decal label. Anything but some limp 'trip hop', the recently released album 'Blood Samples' is some filthy raw headnod fodder. Nine tracks long, the albums yet another strong progression for Irish hiphop.
-Theres
also a band from Dublin called 'Heavy Flow' that incorporate a scratch dj (Troubled
Soul) and a French speaking emcee into their music who I'm told are dope.
- Info
at the Peak Records website on their A
Nu Dioce$e intrumental 12" from 1995.
The sequel wax, released overseas in '97
will be covered here soon...
-
3deep (based in Dublin) was formed about 2 years ago. The 2 rappers are Jesse
& Karl. They have three tracks fully recorded at the moment; 'Up against the
wall' (anti Garda track), 'I'm a celt' (pro Ireland - Anti Violence track) and
'Wanna be 3' (the first track ever recorded). The band has about 15 tracks written
and know what they want them to sound like, so hopefully when some money comes
around, they'll put out an ep. Recently added is this interview
with the crew... - As
mentioned above, ex Marxman member Hollis Byrne is back as part of 'Offside',
based out of Bristol in the UK, their track 'Limelight' is featured on the cd
bundled the with the current May/June issue of Knowledge
mag, so snap that up (actually the whole cd is a killer, mixed by the multi
award winning DJ Craze, its one half drum n bass, half uk hiphop _featuring
tracks Bury Cru, Taskforce, Numbskullz, Blak Twang and a load of other dope
artists)...
- from Cork, eclectic electronic heads Bass
Odyssey [ who provided back up for the Jungle Brothers on their recent shows
here ] have released their ep 'Remote Control Soul', whilst they specialise in
high speed drum n bass, the aformentioned song slows down the tempo and features
vocals from MC Strict and Malvina McCarty, the video has recently been broadcast
on RTEs 'No Disco'.
-
In Limerick, MC Poetic (formerly Chaotic Scene) is emceeing live, including
recently at the 'Coco Collective' event in Limerick along with Hazo plus a host
of djs, more on this head including a radio freestyle soon...
-
Before ScaryÉire
became well known, there was tracks been put together by two heads from Tallaght
who backed up Scary Eire on tour: Ghost (vocals) and Jay (cuts). Produced by DJ
Mek around 1992/1993, two tracks by the combo, '2 Innocent' and 'Good N' Evil'
have recently surfaced proving hiphop here has more history than heads thought,
a number of independent record stores around Dublin including Abbey Disks and
Bigbrother have this stuff...
Soon you will be able to peep an extensive library of audio here by Ireland's underground emcees, djs and producers, which as ri-ra said is "scary, ruff, rugged and real".
updates
forthcoming!...
if you know something I've grievously omitted or generally talked shit about here give us a shout, thanks!
hope that's of some use to yez
peace
-------------------------
last updated 15 May 1999
- audio
clips update - 3 Marxman tracks added
- mek / ghost and jay / radio info tweaked (frequencies to be corrected)
- more updates due this weekend!
Irish
Graffiti links:
be
sure to check out these sites for the full lowdown on Irelands writing scene
- Stealth
Bombers Crew
- Eiresol Style
- Fused
- Liquid Swords
- DUBgraf
-
Star
Dust Writers
Further
resources :
- Highly
recommended reading is online zine 'going
postal' for assorted scandal on Irish hiphop not mentioned here, (including
a no holds barred review of the 1998 DMC finals here) and then some
-
If
you like your beats broken make sure to check out Irish
Drum and Bass for the proper info on exactly that - much there including
an interview with MC Strict of Bass Odyssey...
Hiphop
radio in Ireland:
- Big Brother
Records - Thursday evenings from 1900-2100 on Power 97.3 FM. They play Deep
House , Jazz / Funk / Soul , Hip-Hop and loads of cool stuff...so tune in!
-
Goldy's Hip Hop Show broadcasts out of Power
FM 98.7, every Saturday afternoon from 12.00 TO 3pm...
- The
Next Level,
original Irish Hip Hop show feat. DJ LEIGH & OC, is broadcast Saturdays
on Jazz FM 89.8 from 6 to 9pm...
-
The Uptown Rap Show broadcasts
for 3 hours every Sunday from 9pm to midnight on 94.7 FM, so check for that
too!
-
Cork heads check out the Duck Down Show
hosted by The Invincibles ( Exile Eye and DJ Harvey) on radio friendly
in Cork every Friday from 6 to 8pm...
cheers to all who sent in
stuff that's used here, hooked links up to here, send me feedback and just anyone
whos checking this page out-peace to all of ye