Review: Denise Chaila's ferocious new EP It's A Mixtape is out today

The latest release from renowned rapper and artist Denise Chaila, the irreverently titled EP It's A Mixtape, drops today.

The project features ‘061’, the track that introduced Limerick’s area code to the wider world, and her most recent single ‘Energy’, which displays a whole different side to Chaila. Two further songs ‘Might Be’ and ‘Return of the King’ are also included, as well as the powerful interlude, ‘I a M’.

It's A Mixtape feels like a natural progression from Chaila's 2020 mixtape, Go Bravely. The production feels bolder, and bigger, and while tracks like '061' and 'Return of the King' are sure to be huge crowd pleasers, there's still moments where we see Denise Chaila the poet – such as 'I a M', a blistering ode to self love, respect and personal truth.

On the extended outro of the gorgeous melding of jazz, hip-hop, and soul that is 'Energy', she "lays her heart at the feet" of the Black musicians, artists, wordsmiths and activists that have come before her – a roll call of "everyone who has said enough is enough", including Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Patrice Lumumba and Marsha 'Pay It No Mind' Johnson to name but a few.

Name-checks like this are a hallmark of Chaila's lyrical mastery, and she continues it in the low-pitched, bass-thumping 'Might Be' – where she drops references to Queen Meadhbh, Porky Pig, Dionysis and fellow Limerick rapper Strange Boy all in the first verse.

Closing track 'Return of the King' (she is the King that is returning) is the keystone of this EP, with string arrangements over bass lending it a retro feel. We've got more name-checks – "Man I think I'm Kanye sometimes/might rub you the wrong way sometimes" – and a refrain that will surely sound its best when the entire 3Olympia sings it back to her at her headline show in February next year (tickets are still miraculously available here).

The only conceivable fault with this EP is its length. It feels like a teaser of greatness to come, and as Chaila continues to grow into one of the finest artists these shores have produced, one can only hope an actual, full-length album is on the horizon.

10/10

Stand-out track: 'Return of The King'

Listen to It's A Mixtape by Denise Chaila below.