Malaki: "Now I’m trying to tell people to open their eyes a little bit more"

Irish hip-hop Malaki has seen a steady rise to prominence in the past few years. His 2023 single ‘Most Days’ brought him support from fans and critics alike, such as BBC Radio One’s Jack Saunders, BBC ALT Introducing, BBC 5 Live, RTE 2FM, The Independent, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash Magazine, Notion and Earmilk. That same year, he appeared on The Late Show, and played his first sold-out headline show in London.

With a raw sound that combines personal expression with social and political commentary, Malaki has become well-known for his exploration of themes like toxic masculinity within the Irish youth:

“I think maybe it started to garner some attention because it was a young male speaking about how other young males perceived themselves,” he contemplates, “and what really goes on and why they’re acting like that.

“Writing that, you know, that was my therapy. I maybe had some problems with my personhood when I was younger, but really, it was because I was hiding behind that toxic masculinity mask. I just grew up with that, and it just reflected in my music. Especially with things like mental health.”

Malaki’s debut EP, Butterfly Boy, came out in 2022, soon followed by the EP Don’t Forget To Take Your Medicine. Looking back at it now, he finds that those projects were a representation of who he was at the time, although they might not be completely accurate to his personality now:

“Butterfly Boy was kind of a coming of age story, using the metaphor of the butterfly,” he explains. “It was my introduction to the music scene in Ireland. So it was innocent. The initial production was kind of a lower quality and the lyrics were very raw, and mistakes were here and there because I was only getting used to releasing and being an artist."

“What that record did for me, success-wise," he keeps going, "is it brought me to a place where I was comfortable being an artist. All these projects are stepping stones to where I am now”

After years of exploring heavier themes like the disenchantment of Irish youth, and his own history with mental illness, Malaki has been itching to try out new things in his next projects: “It’s not something that I always want to continue writing about” he goes on, “because, you know, there are happy days.

“I think now I’m more so trying to tell people to open their eyes a little bit more, instead of, kind of, just getting comfortable in darkness. You need to realise there’s a reason why you’re there.”

“There’s a lot of hope to some of my lyricism,” he continues. “I think I want things to change, because I’m a pretty happy-go-lucky person, and I guess I wanna use this platform and this pen and paper to show this side of it.”

That hope that Malaki talks about is something that he aims to explore in his next releases – and speaking of those, he admits that he has another single in the bag, ready to go at the beginning of next month. And after that, an EP, that he has pretty much finished, although he doesn’t give any release date.

“What I’ve been working on in the past year has been my best work to date.” he reflects happily. “I know people say that all the time, but it’s because you learn everything from your past work, and you bring it into your next project.

“And not only that, but the visuals to accompany it are my favourite I’ve done. Everything is taken a step up, and that’s represented in who I am, and then in my music.”

Malaki’s latest single, ‘Long Face’, is available now on all platforms.