New RíRá (Scary Eire) interview (irish hip hop veteran)

urbanize

hey whats good?
i dont usually post on here but i thought i'd share this **** with you guys. Rira's a bit of a legend in the eyes of irish hip hop fans so i think you might find this an interesting read...

taken from Mattagnew.com



"They say the music business is a cut throat industry, so on top of that I'd imagine you're pretty much ****ed trying to get somewhere being an Irish rapper. In a rollercoaster career lasting over twenty years, RíRá has come extremely close to defying the odds set against him. Back in the nineties, his old group Scary Éire was one of the first Irish hip hop acts around and I'm sure they thought their prayers had been answered when Island Records gave them a deal. The lads were living the high life, supporting U2 and having the likes of Sinead O'Connor as fans but their dreams were dealt a severe kick in the balls when the label decided to shelve their debut album, (which unfortunately never seen the light of day until its independent release 13 years later, in 2007). I suppose it was a case of 'what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger' as RíRá decided to pick himself up again and establish himself as a solo artist.

Throughout his career the Irish hip hop veteran has put out numerous EP's and 12" records but now after so many years, he's actually decided to release his own debut album entitled 'horses work for donkeys wages'. I've been fortunate enough to catch up with the legend himself to chat about the old days and his new release.

Matt: First of all, I just want to say fair play on the album 'Horses Work For Donkeys Wages'. You've been an MC for around 20 years but from what I can see this is your debut solo album? What made you finally decide to put an LP out now?

RíRá: I've been wanting to release a solo album for a long time now. It's only recently I've put other tings aside and focused on it properly. All but two tracks that made it on there were recorded in the past few months, it just came together at the right time for me, and I needed to release this album before I could move on.

Matt: You and your old crew (Scary Éire) were probably one of the first Irish hip hop acts about and you've probably seen a lot of faces come and go. How much do you think your sound has progressed since the start?

RíRá: I tink now, for me, there's less messin'. Back with 'Scary..' I was a reckless messer, I still am sometimes, just not a much, and that reflects in the music. We all gain and lose tings along the way, we all go from the ****e to the shine, ya know? The mood of the music depends on where my heads at when I'm writing or recording. I don't look back much, if you do you end up clutching at old ideas, it gets stale.

Matt: Obviously you also gained a lot of experience with labels, so was it a case of once bitten, twice shy for the release of the new album on your own label MaddAxxe Music? Is it just going to be for the purpose of looking after your own music or will you be wanting to sign acts in the future?

RíRá: Creating your own label these days is so much easier than in pre-internet times, any artist who wants control of their own music would be mad not to set one up, **** it, sign yourself. There's no need for the big fish anymore, ok you might sell more albums through them but they take a lot more than you make. They're almost useless nowadays unless you're shifting ****in' millions of units.
MaddAxxe Music was primarily created for my own ting, but ultimately I'd love to sign other artists, just original raw talent of any style, that'd be the aim. I've got a close ear on a few artists, they're raising the bar, squashin' the bullscutter, top notch.

Matt: From listening to the album, it's obvious that you've been influenced by quite a lot of different genres, what did you use for your inspiration in writing and producing the LP?

RíRá: I take inspiration from all styles of music every day, but when I'm writing I switch off to everyting else. I won’t listen to anyting outside of what I'm doing. I tink that's how people end up sounding very similar. Too much influence can be interfering.

Matt: I found the tracks with Íse a nice touch, especially 'Grief', how did you come about working with her?

RíRá: I connected with Íse through MySpace. She's got an amazing voice and vocal range. We passed a few ideas back and forth and it all worked out. I tink the contrast between her voice and mine makes it work, it's another one of those ongoing opposites.

Matt: You featured some old school mc's on the CD (Raggaman Bob and Exile eye) but also brought in some newer talent with the likes of the Rubber Bandits, Mook and Alias Irish. Is there any of the newer generation of Irish mc's that you'd like to work with?

RíRá: I recorded a track with Lunitic a while back, he's a great MC. I'll have to do a track with Maverick Sabre at some stage, top talent, and MC Mupéad, he raps in Gaelic, ****in' deadly. Really I'll work with anybody who can bring someting new and improved to the table, anyting original and honest.

Matt: You've included your older classics such as 25 o'clock in the mornin' and Front Bar, if you had to pick one track on the whole album, which would it be?

RíRá: I tink part of the purpose of putting an album together is so you don't have to pick one track, it should all run together as a collection of songs. I hate those half arsed albums' with 3 or 4 banging tunes and 12 absolute cack tracks, why bother?, an EP's easier to make, but that's what happens when artists get themselves into multi-album deals and can't bring the goods. If I didn't like all the tracks on the album it wouldn't have been released, you have to record what you like firstly, then if people like it, we're all on the same page.

Matt: So just to finish off, what should we be expecting next from RíRá? Gigs, any new videos or projects etc.?

RíRá: I'll be giggin' to promote the album soon, lookin' forward to that. I've got a heap of songs that need finishing, that didn't fit on the album. I'm always musically busy in some way, I need to be, that's what I do.

I think the most impressive thing is that RíRá is still about now, if I was in his shoes I don't know if I would be determined enough to carry on after comin so close, gettin tripped up before the finish line and over a decade later still be trying to work my back up to that point. Just like Scary’s album was released after so many years, the release of RíRá’ debut ‘horses work for donkeys wages’ was also something we as fans have been eagerly waiting for and I wasn't let down when I finally got my greasy mits on it.

The biggest point to be made about the album is its uniqueness. Many Irish mc's understandably are influenced by american rappers and I feel that this is one of the main problems in establishing a respectable scene in Ireland but if many of them had taken a leaf out of RíRá 's book, irish hip hop itself would have its own unique sound.

Regardless if you're a fan of not, it cannot be argued against that respect is owed to a man who's experienced so much and shown so much determination. I just want to take this opportunity to thank RíRá for the interview and wish him and MaddAxxe Music all the best in the future.

Horses work for donkeys wages is availlable on cd format from his MySpace, Plug’d records in Cork and Freebird records in Dublin."

Rira's Myspace

cheers

matt

beanaldo

I am a huge RiRa fan. Thanks for this , really enjoyed it

HighClass

Got to the end and was confused as to how it was a new interview, only just copped the date. Good read all the same though, legend in the Irish hip hop scene. He put out a new track this month called 'The Outernet' if anyone wants to check it,

Loads of stuff on his Bandcamp as well http://maddaxxemusic.bandcamp.com/releases

beanaldo

Do you know what is real name is by any chance bud?

HighClass

beanaldo wrote: »

Do you know what is real name is by any chance bud?

No idea, Mr RiRa? @Ri_Ra_ScaryEire is his twitter page if you wanna get in touch!

fiachr_a

urbanize wrote: »

The lads were living the high life, supporting U2

They got booed off the stage, 'get yer tits out' bunch of scummers!