10 years ago today: Rusangano Family released Let The Dead Bury The Dead

Originally published in Hot Press in 2016:

There’s a widespread assumption that Limerick hip-hop outfit Rusangano Family are a “political” band. But the trio are wary of kneejerk labels and practically flinch when I drop the “P” word.

They have strongly held beliefs about the state of the world today – make no mistake. Forty-eight hours after the Brussels bombings, mankind’s apparently endless determination to inflict horror upon itself is, for instance, very much on their minds.

But should you have come to the banks of the Shannon hoping for incisive analysis of the recent general election, then you’ve knocked on the wrong doors. If Rusangano are political, it is on their own terms. They won’t, for instance, be sharing their innermost musings on a Fianna Fail-Fine Gael coalition or what the deluge of Independent TDs tells us about the condition of Ireland in 2016. Lectures and pat sermons simply aren’t their bag. They’re smarter, more subtle than that.

“This is probably the third interview where somebody’s gone, ‘Oh, you’re a political band,” says producer mynameisjOhn (his first name is indeed John). “The truth is that none of us are into politics. We’re into people. We can’t give definitive answers. All we can do is think and try to talk about the struggles which everyone is going through in the 21st century.”

Limerick has shaped the group’s gritty, free-wheeling music. They appreciate the city for its authenticity and sense of apartness. There’s nowhere else in Ireland quite like the midwest capital and nobody else making hip-hop that sounds like Rusangano Family’s enthralling mash-up of rhymes and rhythms. These they deploy to devastating effect on their debut album, Let The Dead Bury The Dead.

“Putting yourself out there, showing sides of yourself to the whole world. That was tough,” says rapper MuRli, originally from Togo and now resident In Limerick (the keening hymnals his grandfather would sing at funerals in Togo helped shape his distinctive rapping). “But the actual making of the project was a lot of fun. It helped us get to know each other better. Our art is about representing where Ireland is. It would be foolish not to look back – but we’re also trying to look forward.”

The third member of the triptych is rapper God Knows, who comes from Zimbabwe and grew up in Ennis. As with MuRli he’s been based in Ireland for much of his life and reacts with surprise when asked if he brings an “outsider” perspective to his lyrics.

In the literal rather than artistic sense, none of Rusangano see themselves as outsiders – they’re Irish and everything they do is from that vantage point. Those slapping on Let The Dead Bury The Dead in the expectation of something other than 100 per cent homegrown hip-hop are in for a letdown. They’re exotic only if you think that anywhere past Celbridge should be marked “here be Healy-Raes” on the map. In fact, you could argue that, living in what Dubliners might call the “provinces”, Rusangano talk about Ireland more authentically than the capital’s crop of SoCoDu-spawned middle-class indie bands with American inflections.

“We don’t want to focus on the petty things – the stereotypes about being a non-national,” says the chipper MuRli, who moved here with his family when he was 12. The group started out as solo artists who fell into one another’s orbit. mynameisjOhn was producing an early MurRli EP when it dawned on all involved that they were better as a team than occasional collaborators. Limerick rap music’s answer to the Avengers was born.

Hip hop is a career as well as a passion. All three work with local social inclusion groups, using music to broaden the horizons of disadvantaged youngsters. They give workshops around the city, showing kids from deprived areas that rap can be a valid means of expression and that finding your inner voice is a first step in making a better life for yourself.

“One thing that we are all trying to get across is the perspective of what it is to be a hip-hop act based in the West of Ireland,” says mynameisjOhn. “We are not trying to emulate anyone else. Limerick has its own sound. We are quite proud to say we are contributing to that. Our goal is to be ‘of’ the West of Ireland in as authentic a fashion as possible”

If you wanted to push the point, you might argue that Rusangano Family are Rubberbandits minus the plastic bags and scatological humour, but with the same sharp brand of social commentary.

“Blindboy Boatclub from Rubberbandits has talked about using art in a controversial way,” resumes mynameisjOhn, “The best art is controversial because it gets people talking. We don’t always set out to be controversial. But it is definitely something we have taken on board.”

I can’t sit down with one of Ireland’s most acclaimed hip-hop crews and not ask the big question of our time. Kanye West: mad or genius? “I don’t think Kanye’s music impacts on us in terms of our process of creation,” says God Knows.

“If you talk about his career – I’ve always said that The College Dropout is hugely influential,” says MuRli. “He’s been my go to guy for a long time. I don’t listen to him before I write or anything. But I am who I am today because of The College Dropout and Late Registration. You can say he’s a despicable person or whatever. The fact is those records stand up. I wouldn’t be doing what I am without them.”