Malaki

Malaki - whose name means 'messenger' - is one of Ireland's most prolific and fast-rising rappers. Bursting onto the scene in January 2019 with the powerful spoken-word epic "Call Us By Our Names", the young Dubliner has been carving out his place in Irish hip-hop ever since. Don't be fooled by the youthful swagger - at twenty, Ma!aki has been an eye-witness to the steady disenfranchisement of Irish youth, a theme frequently probed in his bruising, brutally honest debut EP, 'Butterfly Boy'.

Railing against the 'hard man' archetype many Irish boys are raised to uphold, he tackles themes of transformation and toxic masculinity with biting quips and astonishing ingenuity, wearing his heart proudly on his sleeve.

Malaki synthesizes a rich and original interpretation of Dublin life, seamlessly fusing personal expression with piercing social and political commentary. Songs like 'Fair Play' and 'Cavalier' display an ability to conceive tongue-in-cheek lyrics injected with an air of self-aware braggadocio, where 'You Told Me' and 'Paper Prophecies' expose the introspective, more unsure underbelly of a wordsmith at the forefront of his craft.