EQUATE Introducing Malaki
“I love my country and my city so much, and I don't think you should take over another city when you haven't even taken over yours first. So I wanna do that first and then take over other cities!”
Photo Credit: Paula Trojner
Let us introduce you to Malaki - the up-and-coming rapper is a force to be reckoned with. Born and raised in Dublin, the artist has never really considered a career in music when he was younger. It was only when he accidentally came across the Hip Hop group A Tribe Called Quest that he discovered his love for Hip Hop and Rap - …and the rest is history. Soon he would perform on underground stages in his hometown and release music consistently. Music is the rapper’s way to address and work through his emotions. An advocate for mental health and battling toxic masculinity, he is actively speaking up about those issues in his songs. Portraying his pain and not being ashamed of his vulnerability is what truly makes him unique - conscious lyrics, alongside hard-hitting beats, and not to mention his genius creativity, enabled Malaki to grow his fanbase steadily. Only yesterday, he has dropped his brand new single ‘The Riddler’ in which we also get introduced to his Alter Ego. We don’t want to give away too much about it, so have a read about what he has to say about it below!
Words & Interview by Antonia Kuenzel
EQ: How did you get started in music in the first place?
M: I wasn’t born into a musical family, nobody in my family plays an instrument or would listen to it on the regular so I had to develop my own musical journey in my own way. A lot of that was coming from my brother who would listen to rap but kind of in his own time, and I just remember stumbling upon A Tribe Called Quest, have you heard of them?
EQ: Of course!
M: Haha, so I was stumbling upon them and just being taken by it, I was shocked by the flow. Because Rap was never something I was interested in, but then I heard this and was shocked. So since then I just listened to a lot of 90’s old school Hip Hop and then progressing into all sorts of genres, and from there I have started to do my own music.
EQ: That’s so interesting. But considering you didn’t come from a musical family, what did your parents say when you said you wanted to go for a career in music?
M: It’s a weird one because it didn’t make much sense to them at the time but they are a very supportive family, so whatever I chose, they would support me with it. My family go to my gigs, and I think it’s important that you feel comfortable in your surroundings and fortunately my friends and family are so welcoming with my passion for music.
EQ: Yes, it’s so important indeed! You were born and raised in Ireland though, how was the music scene over there when you were growing up?
M: The thing with Ireland and music is that a lot of people represent it from its poets and playwrights, and our ‘mainstream’ artists such as Sinead O’Connor or U2. These are the people that come to mind when you are talking about music from there. There’s never talk about the underground scene. We have extremely talented artists and songwriters from this country that are not getting the attention they deserve, probably because we are not really being taken seriously at the start and especially with Hip Hop, the Irish accent is something that can be seen as cringe - a lot of people in Ireland can’t listen to an Irish man or woman rap. Fortunately they like my voice and my accent so I’m very lucky and also in London they enjoy the way that I speak. So it’s really hard to break down barriers even in your own country, let alone internationally. It’s been a struggle but I’ve been grinding and luckily people are not just resonating with how I sound but I write, and that’s what’s important to me.
Photo Credit: Paula Trojner
EQ: Did you first find it difficult to break into the underground scene?
M: It’s been mainly through social media and going to gigs but it wasn’t difficult because it was such a small scene - the Hip Hop scene in Dublin compared to London is tiny. Here you have two, or three, Hip Hop magazines with only a few followers and that’s pretty much it and that’s your only way to get yourself out there. Fortunately, the scene is really on the rise and there is some extremely talented people coming out of this country.
EQ: Would you ever consider relocating to London though?
I moved to London for love last year but it did not last for long, so I headed home again. But it made good writing material, so who cares! The good thing about this journey was though that it made me conceptualise this upcoming music which is my best work to date. So this for me is the positive out of the negative. I love my country and my city so much, and I don’t think you should take over another city when you haven’t even taken over yours first. So I wanna do that first and then take over other cities!
EQ: Very true! Lyrically, I love your message about toxic masculinity within the Irish youth - was there a situation that made you want to speak up about it in particular?
M: I think it definitely stems from me just growing up as a teenager, the people I was surrounded by. Here we have this ‘hard man’ mentality, which I guess is everywhere else too. And this has been embedded in my since a very young age, my role models were these lads on the corners of the street, selling this and drinking that and smoking this and doing that. And that for me was a role model, which was destructive. As I grew older I could recognise that, and through my pain and suffering I was able to write about that and allowed me to gain a whole other deception. When I was writing about toxic masculinity, I didn’t know that that was the subject matter, I just wrote about the subject matter and someone told me that I have a really good eye writing about these social commentary and political matters. For me it was just pen to paper really.
EQ: You’ve also recently appeared on The Late Late Show and spoke about your experience participating in the ‘I’m Fine’ documentary. How was the experience of partaking in the documentary?
M: A truly cathartic experience to say the least, I struggled a lot when transitioning into adulthood and was very secluded from my emotions but went through my struggles, went to therapy and have done my counselling and have self-medicated in my own way. So I was very comfortable talking about this and you know, a lot of men aren’t. So I wanted to use my positive outlook from when I struggled. It was really important for me, and if you have a platform then you should use it.
“… Last summer when I moved away, I had a tough time but had a lot of time with myself which allowed me to think about my past and my struggles and pain. With that, I was able to personify those emotions and the negativity and portrayed them as a character, as an alter ego named Calvero…”
EQ: Absolutely! So you have also just released your new single The Riddler…
M: Last summer when I moved away, I had a tough time but had a lot of time with myself which allowed me to think about my past and my struggles and pain. With that, I was able to personify those emotions and the negativity and portrayed them as a character, as an alter ego named Calvero - the name stems from a movie I watched during lockdown called Limelight, which is written and directed by Charlie Chaplin and he wears this make up and I loved this. The way he is masking his emotions - I took inspiration from that. A lot of this EP is based around this character called Calvero, so it’s chaotic, it’s powerful and scary at times but introspectively, it’s crazy, I love this work. It’s the antagonist of the world creating an EP kind of. So The Riddler is an introduction to this character. There is three songs in particular that are about him. Alter egos just happen sometimes and I love the artistic side of that, Eminem had one too.
EQ: Love that! You also already have a tour planned, don’t you? What can we expect on stage then?
M: Yes, December 1st is the first one, which is in Belfast and we finish in Dublin, it will be six shows altogether. Fingers crossed it will go ahead! I’m really excited because it will be the first time for me on tour to bring out Calvero as well.
EQ: I’m sure it will go ahead, that sounds so exciting. So will it be you versus Calvero on stage then?
M: I like the way you said you versus Calvero, that’s a really good point, that’s cool! I’ll make note of that, haha. Have you ever been to a musical or a play? You’re sitting there and you are just witnessing it and you don’t know what’s going to happen but you can’t stop watching. For me I always wanted music shows, not just holding the mic. I want to bring different elements, like theatrics in a sense of an intermissions and limelights and people will be like what’s going on and then baam, the Riddler comes on. I want people to come and them not just seeing a show but a whole musical experience, I want them to be shocked.
EQ: Sounds incredible. You should totally put on an actual musical! I’ll make sure to come to the London show. Thanks so much for your time!
Listen to ‘The Riddler’ below…
YouTube/Malaki
Stream ‘The Riddler’ HERE