#sean gatch

[llovelymoonn]

paige lewis space struck: “god stops by” (via @godsopenwound​) \\ ada limón miracle fish (via @godsrabbit​) \\ sean gatch pomegranate \\ julien baker claws in your back \\ sean glatch recovery politics \\ leslie nelson jennings god’s house \\ c. dale young the halo: “the gods among us” \\ david schubert \\ daisy fried no god in us but song \\ hinnah mian to build a home: poetry and prose (via @godsopenwound​)

kofi

[sofreshsosoulful]

South x Southwest connection

One of last weeks biggest tracks has a huge Cork connection, and it was great to welcome high flying South West rapper God Knows down to the city for the video shoot of his amazing “We move the Needle” track. The tune is somewhat a response to some of the big events happening in the world recently, so it was apt that the video was shot in front of some iconic Black Lives Matter imagery on the walls and hoardings of Cork City.

 The video was shot by Stephen Hall, and takes in some of the much discussed murals that were created as a response to the murder of George Floyd. The video was shot in front of the Peter Martin mural on the Mardyke and the Black Lives Matter hoarding on Sullivans Quay, created by the Climate Youth Activists. There was also a visit to the Kabin Studio on the northside of Cork City, a hub that defines much of what is great about Cork hip-hop in 2020. The multi talented Trouble Club were doing live graf up there too, and some of Corks finest youngsters stopped by, including MC Tiny plus Cara and Sophie. It was also fitting that arguably Corks best ever rapper, appeared up here, and it was great to see Bony back on the mic for this tune.

Bony takes the second verse on the “We move the Needle” jam, and despite a few appearances with GMC, it’s the first time we’ve heard from him properly in well over 10 years. From his emergence in the mid 2000’s in what was probably raps golden era here in Cork, Bony was always a rapper who demanded to be respected greatly on the mic. Like many of the great MC’s of that era, much of the best material remained unrecorded, but it’s still worth remembering that many of the rappers back then were the best in the country at the time.

What happened? Well life does tend to get in the way, and as teenager we all eventually grow up and adult responsibilities don’t always go hand in hand with the rap grind. It’s hard to do it as anything other than a hobby, and many of the best rappers of that era moved on to other things. Some of the them were respected battlers too, and continued in this vein, but I always regret that when things were really popping off in the Cork City rap scene, more albums didn’t come out. At the time Bony, Nash, Brozy, Mickey Gatch, Samir, B Wonder, Buachaill Dana and many more, were MC’s who pound for pound could have handled themselves against anyone anywhere, but at least we still have the memories!

Bony’s verse on “We move the Needle” shows he’s still got it as good as ever, and he’s joined by God knows regular collaborator from the Rusangano era, Murli, who’s own solo material in the last 6 months is getting some much overdue attention aswell. It was fitting that PX head honcho Sean and Denise Chaila appeared in the video too, as they both illustrate why the South west is the template for where hip-hop can go in Ireland in 2020.   I’ve written about Denise numerous times here now, but she continues to gather momentum and more than anyone, she is ushering in the new wave in Ireland right now.

The whole PX crew from Limerick are showing the citys’ strength and depth and the importance of that whole cooperative approach to music. If Limerick can do it Cork and other areas can too as they are up against the same barriers we are, and in some ways it’s even tougher up there to get attention.

God Knows recognises that it’s important to have MC’s and DJ’s leading the conversation and he told Hot Press that “we’re the ones supposed to lead the way. When it’s out of our hands, we’re just doing what other people ask us to do. We move the needle, nobody else does. We don’t have to go by anyone’s rules, we make our own rules”. This is the very essence of hip-hop and it’s refreshing to have such a back to basics approach surrounding this and other releases from the same project, which have included some of the south wests best MC’s, while a Dublin feature is imminent too. And big shouts to Sert One and Fly High society for the banging beat. Things are moving in 2020!

This article originally appeared in Echolive