Having formed in Sligo at a vinyl-only night in McGarrigles in 2008, This Side Up represent an West Of Ireland faction of hip-hop lovers brought up on the golden age of rap – call and response, posse cuts, samples and fat drum beats. On Myster-E, Shaool & Noone’s debut album there’s a playfulness in their bright hip-hop style that’s matched by their accents.
‘Billy No Mates’ sounds like a Jurassic 5 throwback production, ‘The Beast’ is a Beastie Boys flute loop with more bass, ‘All Nottin’ are these Sligo MCs in full flow, ‘Signs’ sees them team up with UK rappers Verb T and MoreOne.
Other guests include Spekulative Fiktion and MC Muipead (rapping as Gaeilge – “wild Atlantic shit”), while Hamo, one half of dance producers Brame and Hamo, also Sligo-born, contributes the beat to ‘Snappin’.
The album is out Monday via Bandcamp. Listen to it here first:
This Side Up have gigs in Cork and Dublin this month.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
