A K U L M L A P
HIP HOP
Words: Fionn Thompson
2018
was a breakout year for IADT student and rapper Luka Palm. Following on from his 2015 release Pink Lady – released when he was just 16 – the rapper hit new strides in 2018, releasing solo track San Pelly and collaborating with fellow Soft Boy Kojaque on Date Night and Politicksis, as well as performing live across Ireland and the UK, opening for the established Slowthai at his Dublin and London shows. The success of Luka is as much a testament to his talent as it is to the growing infiltration that hiphop is having on the Irish music scene. No longer the niche genre lying in the shadows for a chance to shine, hip-hop has unleashed its shackles, with a menagerie of talent sprouting from our capital and beyond. The usual suspects of techno and Harcourt St’s top 40s still reign supreme on any given weekend night, but hip-hop’s growing influence can be seen in the growth and success of alternative clubs such as the Sugar Club and the success of artist’s like Versatile, Rejjie Snow and Kojaque overseas.
The span between announcing himself to the scene with Pink Lady and his current resurgence has been almost three years – a long gap, but not surprising given his young age at the time. The two years following the release were quiet – ‘To be honest I wasn’t even taking music seriously back then at all - I was working on music like once a month. I did fuck all, I was surrounding myself with other artists all the time … I was just taking it all in. It was only about this time last year I started taking it seriously again’. 2018 proved to be the year when the wheels started turning, not only releasing more music but putting the plans in motion for new releases: ‘I’ve been grafting hard in 2018 so that I could release a lot this year … I’ll probably be releasing about 10 songs this year. I’ll be releasing my own project before the summer, so like April/May, then I have a few side projects that I’m working on with other artists. But then, before I drop my EP, I’m gonna be dropping a few singles to get some hype growing for the album.’ Not only has Luka increased his release
output, he has been performing live with increased regularity in recent times. Irish hip-hop has found continued support across the Irish Sea, and shows in the UK are quick to include Irish acts – and Luka is no different: ‘between October and December of last year, I think I played like four times in London, and with the tour with Kojaque I was opening for him in Manchester and stuff like that’. Not only is it a means to play to bigger crowds, it’s also a way of diversifying your audience, especially in the UK, with the massive hip-hop scene they have – ‘It’s definitely good for building up the international recognition but also building up the confidence of being around people who mightn’t have a clue who you are.’ And what of the crowd – is it mostly Irish emigrants or native English as well? ‘No, there’s definitely English people, but the Irish people are always the loudest people at the shows! They want to make it known that Irish people came out in London to see other Irish people. They’re proud of themselves for doing that, you know?’.
T HE EYE IADT MAGAZINE
7
