Rejjie Snow announces Dublin Olympia Theatre show
Ahead of his forthcoming album Baw Baw Black Sheep this Friday, Dublin rapper Rejjie Snow has announced a gig at the Olympia Theatre on 11th October 2021.
Tickets are €21 plus fees on sale at 9am this Friday, 9th July from Ticketmaster.ie
The followup to Rejjie’s 2017 debut album Dear Annie has been preceeded by singles ‘Cookie Chips’ featuring MF Doom, ‘Disco Pants’ with Tinashe & grouptherapy, ‘Relax’ and ‘Mirrors’ feat. Snoh Aalegra & Cam’Obi.
About Baw Baw Black Sheep
‘Baw Baw Black Sheep’ shows off the Irish rapper’s hyper-visual world building capabilities as he creates a cinematic soundtrack full of colour and joy working alongside Cam O’bi (as Executive Producer) and frequent collaborator Dee Lilly.
“I approached [the album] light heartedly from the point of view of making a short film through music,” Rejjie explains. “I always loved Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I watch it all the time. I thought of Baw Baw Black Sheep like a soundtrack to it. I put the movie on with my album, and they synced up perfectly. I tried to tap into all of these feelings. The music is really colourful, and the lyrics are often happy, because that was my state of mind.” Never one to shy away from collaborations Rejjie set the stage for the album releasing ‘Cookie Chips’, which features the late and legendary MF DOOM, followed by single ‘Mirrors’ with Snoh Aalegra which pairs sun-soaked production with laidback bars before Snoh turns up with slick and soulful cameo on the chorus.”It’s very nostalgic
Rejjie elaborates. “I’m diving into little things that stood out from when I was younger. They’re tiny snapshots. I’m trying to paint a story with the lyrics. It’s got a happy vibe.” The album also features the languorous vocals of Tinashe and grouptherapy. for the sultry ‘Disco Pantz’. Elsewhere a trap bounce underscores the chilled-out energy of ‘Relax’ also with collaboration from grouptherapy. before a moment of intimate dialogue. Cymbals simmer beneath tense verses and the double entendre-driven hook of ‘Oreos’.
On the finale ‘Shooting Star’, a frenetic beat darts across the sky as his vocals soar amidst spacey zips and bleeps. “Everyone is a star in their own way,” he states. “I’m touching on this idea and trying to inspire on the last track.” The bliss that Rejjie felt in that moment courses through the entire body of work. “I felt very at ease,” he says. “There was nothing heavy on my mind. Everything made sense. I’ve never been that quick with music in the past. It just flowed out of me. I had done a lot of shrooms two months before, so I was prepared for the journey of making Baw Baw Black Sheep. I went out there by myself with no distractions. It was a special time for me. When I made ‘Dear Annie’, I was coming out of a relationship, and I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to write about it. It was on my mind, because I’m like any other bloke. This time, I went in with nothing. I was in a good space.”
He set the stage for the album with ‘Cookie Chips’, which features the legendary MF DOOM and Cam O’bi and was quickly followed by single ‘Mirrors’ [feat. Snoh Aalegra & Cam O’bi] which pairs sun-soaked production with laidback bars before Snoh turns up with slick and soulful cameo on the chorus. “It’s very nostalgic,” Rejjie elaborates. “I’m diving into little things that stood out from when I was younger. They’re tiny snapshots. I’m trying to paint a story with the lyrics. It’s got a happy vibe.” Elsewhere, a trap bounce underscores the chilled-out energy of ‘Relax’ also with collaboration from grouptherapy. before a moment of intimate dialogue. Cymbals simmer beneath tense verses and the double entendre-driven hook of ‘Oreos’. On the finale ‘Shooting Star’, a frenetic beat darts across the sky as his vocals soar amidst spacey zips and bleeps. “Everyone is a star in their own way,” he states. “I’m touching on this idea and trying to inspire on the last track.”
Originally hailing from Dublin, Rejjie always felt he always stood out. Beyond the fact he rapped in a country that lacked a vibrant hip hop scene, he never quite fit in with his friends and family either. “I’m still the one who’s a bit goofy and different from everybody else,” he affirms. “People always said I was odd, so I turned into the ‘Black Sheep’. I use those differences to my advantage though. Things like my ADHD became superpowers, not weaknesses.”
Those “superpowers” separated him from the pack right out of the gate. He supported Madonna on tour and broke all the rules with his 2017 mixtape, ‘The Moon & You’. A year later, his full-length debut, ‘Dear Annie’, yielded genre-disruptive fan favorites such as ‘Egyptian Luvr’, ’23’, ‘The Rain’, and more. ‘Dear Annie’ was a roaring success receiving rave reviews from the Guardian to NME, and was praised as “a dazzling record” (Crack Magazine) of “blissful hip-hop” (The Times) and took the rapper to the global stage selling out shows and “causing a “causing an uproar on both sides of the Atlantic”, according to DAZED.
In the end, ‘Baw Baw Black Sheep’ might just be the answer to the escapism you’ve been needing. “I’d love for you to experience this the same way you’d watch a movie,” he leaves off. “Hopefully, you’re immersed in it. I also want everyone to know–especially people from my neck of the woods–that you can do the same thing. It’s really crazy what you can make when you’re having fun.” Rejjie Snow
Rejjie Snow – Baw Baw Black Sheep tracklist
- Grateful
- Obrigado
- Cookie Chips (ft. MF DOOM & Cam O’bi)
- Cookie Chips Interlude
- Mirrors (ft. Snoh Aalegra & Cam O’bi)
- Relax (ft. Cam O’bi & grouptherapy.)
- Relax Interlude
- Oreos
- Skip To My Lou
- On and On
- Disco Pantz (ft. Tinashe & grouptherapy.)
- Star in the Making
- Shooting Star
- Outro (I Just Wanna Be Me)
