Album Review: Curtisy, WHAT WAS THE QUESTION

Tallaght’s Curtisy steadily stakes his claim within Irish hip-hop via a uniformly brilliant full-length debut. Thanks to his stoner demeanor and Earl Sweatshirt drenched trip-hop sound that he’s exhibited since releasing singles in 2021, a surface-level examination of the Dubliner could lead one to dismiss him as a bit of a messer. Once WHAT WAS THE QUESTION hits its stride on ‘Landmine!’ though, we’re given a hitherto un-heard perspective into the life of the young bar-spitter.

The album’s most lasting incisions come from the introspections on addiction, isolation and patchy parental relations. On ‘Mad At Me’ Curtisy candidly excavates, revealing an exposure to drugs at a young age, an avoidant (if not completely absent) father and a need for his mother’s love (“Why can’t you love me like I am mam?”).

Fellow dub Rory Sweeney is proving to be a cultured producer since his underground electronic days. He’s littered this offering with psychedelic beats and cinematic instrumentation: the Morricone-esque ‘Wok To Blackrock’ is a stand out in this regard. Elsewhere, The Streets-evoking ‘Last Time’ displays a seamless marriage between the LP’s imaginative production and lyrical sentiments, with Curtisy discussing the cyclical interrelatedness of substance abuse and heartbreak over hypnotic, washed-out piano loops.

It’s not all doom and gloom either. The revitalising ‘Tree Sap’ and funky ‘mm mm good’ give the album a proverbial kick up the hole, culminating in a brisk, flowing project which firmly establishes Curtisy’s status as one of the most charming and inventive rappers on the island.

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