KhakiKid returns with ‘Must Be a Man’, a typically sharp-witted new song and video that takes aim at the absurdities of traditional masculinity, and another powerbar chorus hook from the Dublin 12 artist who keeps racking up great singles.
The song pokes fun at cracking jokes at funerals, refusing to cry and being too much of a lad for using suncream, all shot through with the Dublin rapper’s trademark irreverence.
The track is produced by Louis Stanley Isaacs, and comes with a video directed by David Willis, shot in Dublin with actors playing out scenarios from cracking under pressure to finding out you’re going to be a father. This is really, really great.
KhakiKid says he wrote the hook the day after speaking at a Movember event about his mental health and what being a man meant to him: “I realised that a lot of what I’d learned from those people was what not to do. I’d spent more time figuring out the kind of man I didn’t want to be than the kind I did.” He sat on it for a couple of years before his friend Andy Asco sang the hook in the studio while he wrote the verses.
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“I wrote the hook for ‘Must Be A Man’ the day after performing at a Movember event. I’d been asked to speak briefly about my mental health and what being a man meant to me. I was happy to but when I got on stage, the host began asking questions I’d never really considered before. I found myself getting emotional talking about things I’d never really shared publicly, or even with friends. I’d always thought I was over my past, but that conversation made me realise it had affected me more than I’d understood. Some of the questions centred around father figures and the people who shaped me into the man I am today. I realised that a lot of what I’d learned from those people was what not to do. I’d spent more time figuring out the kind of man I didn’t want to be than the kind I did. I wrote the hook the following day, playing with the clichés and tropes of masculinity, but sat on it for a couple of years before feeling comfortable enough to use it. When the time finally came, my friend Andy Asco was filming some bits in the studio. He has an incredible voice, and I knew he could bring the emotion I wanted to the hook, so he ended up singing it while I wrote the verses. In the years since, I’ve come to appreciate the brilliant lads I’m lucky to have around me. I’ve learned to tell people I love them, beyond just my mam, and to understand the importance of having difficult conversations.”
It follows his five-track EP Girl Bites Dog in April which featured the viral ‘Date Nite’, a collab with Kojaque and Kean Kavanagh and there are rumours of a debut album next year. Listen to ‘Must Be a Man’.
KhakiKid live
All of his Irish dates are sold out:
- Wednesday November 11th – Róisín Dubh, Galway
- Friday November 13th – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
- Sunday November 15th – Limelight 2, Belfast
- Friday November 20th – Hen’s Teeth, Dublin
- Wednesday December 30th – New Year’s Festival, Dublin
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.
