Ulster Says No

The bloke with the shaven head, facial piercings, and mosaic arms is leaning across the table. “Where’s the hip-hop album talking about spides, millies and Buckfast?” he’s wondering with a grin. “It needed to be done, man. I’m telling ye.”

Hit The North can’t help but agree with the logic. So, allow us to introduce Roysta – the former punk turned b-boy “dirtbag” – who’s looking to save hip-hop’s soul with some good old-fashioned D.I.Y principles and an unhealthy dose of stinkin’ Belfast thinkin’.
“I represent Belfast, spit filthily, stay shitty/ Fuckin’ right I’m a good swimmer, I know every dive in this city.”

So run the opening lines of B.E.L.F.A.S.T., a track on Roysta’s second CD Dirtcore Deluxe, wherein our hero, aided by a surreptitiously acquired Giro cheque, embarks on a series of misadventures around town involving Linenhall St prostitutes, spides in Shaftsbury Square, and unmentionable acts in a branch of Dorothy Perkins and one of the city’s new ‘prize-winning’ glitter pubs.

Licentious, crude and juvenile, it well may be. But it is also bursting with a frequently hilarious verbal energy that – by drawing on everything from the bouncers at Vicos to ‘barrack-busters’, ‘spides’, ‘steeks’ and ‘barcode taches’ – finds its inspiration in the neglected gaps that lie between BT 1 and 18.

“I just want to represent Belfast honestly, because apart from ‘Alternative Ulster’ I don’t know any other songs about it,” says Roysta.” I want to tell the truth in a way that everyone can relate to and I think that track does that. And as well as that I’ve been pissed off because I can’t get a drink in Belfast now. None of these flashy fucking bars will let me in because of my tattoos.”

Which, judging by the size of the grin, is a state of affairs that is obviously breaking the young man’s heart. Roysta’s background can be traced amongst the bring-your-own underground punk scene in the city. After spending his teenage years drumming in a number of hardcore punk bonds, he discovered that his long-nurtured obsession for hip-hop was leading him off in another direction. On arrival, though, he was determined to draw on lessons learnt from his previous love.

“I’ve been into punk my whole life and want to bring that attitude into hip-hop,” he maintains. “I grew up with punk, so it would be hard not to bring that in. The thing about hip-hop is that there’s so much shite being spoken about at the moment that has no relevance to me – it’s all about how many cars you have and how shiny your fucking jewellery is. The best punk stuff always looks at what’s going on around it, so I’ve no problem going on about getting shit-faced, living in Belfast, bollocks like that.”

Straight Outta The Psychiatric Ward, which he released last year through his own website, and the aforementioned Dirtcore Deluxe, certainly benefit from the floridly degenerate take Roysta has on the city, while the sound of a prime Belfast accent tearing through a full-blooded rap is truly a thing to behold. However, the suspicion lingers that in order to avoid the fate of a caricatured, self-parody, Roysta will have to keep light on his feet.

At the moment, though, most of his energy is being expended in his leopard-skin lined “pimped-up” studio, where, besides the Roysta material, he records electro under the name Crookz, drum ’n’ bass as SplatterHouseMafia, and techno as Marley Tribute. He has also been busy setting up the Dirtcore Deathsquad collective and helping to produce some tracks for his 14-year-old cousin: “They’re mad. Totally conscious stuff about growing up in the estates. There’s some brilliant talent going to come through here in the next few years.”
And what about the rumours that you’re going to link up with Phil Kieran?

“Aye, he got in touch wondering if I’d be up for doing some mash-up kinda stuff, with me on a mic spouting madness. I think he was looking at it as something that would go down well at festivals. I’m well up for it – scaring the shit out of cunts at Witnness – but we’ll see what happens. I’m up for everything. Everything.”
Yip, we’d gathered.