When you take a look at this blog, you wouldn’t immediately think that the person behind it would be interested in hip-hop, let alone the Irish hip-hop scene. I surprised myself when I attended Prescription’s event in collaboration with Soft Boy Records. The versatility of the acts and the huge dedication of the organisers really impressed me and opened my eyes to an exciting music scene happening right under my nose. I was so lucky to get to speak to Kean Kavanagh of Soft Boy Records and Laolu Adeleye of Prescription to get their thoughts on the whole event!

Kean Kavanagh’s first taste of the hip-hop world was when he was in the most unlikely of places: the Gaeltacht. From there he progressed into mixing music in his bedroom and finally founded Soft Boy Records with Kevin Smith ‘Kojaque’ and the rest, as they say, is history:

Eilis: How did you start getting gigs with Soft Boy Records?

Kean: Soft Boy Records actually started off as a faux label, just something we used when contacting promoters because we figured if we had something that looked legitimate, it would lead to gigs. We are mostly influenced by hip-hop, playing around with beats and sounds – but we also love to sample genres such as soul and jazz. We have a real DIY attitude and at the very core of it all is the artistry, it’s really important to us.

E: Do you have a sort of criteria when it comes to taking on artists at Soft Boy Records?

K: Kev (Kojaque) and I mostly take people on based on the fact that their music is something we’d listen to ourselves. That’s important. Obviously, we’re largely influenced by hip-hop. We do sometimes clash from time to time but, you have to be able to laugh things off sometimes.

E: As someone new to the hip-hop scene, if I were to listen to tracks by the artists that play in Pharmacia tonight, what would they be?

1. Midnight Flower - Kojaque

2. Pink Lady – Luka Palm

3. Good Day – Henry Earnest

4.  Wificode – Kojaque

E: How has Limerick treated you?

K: From my perspective humour is key when in this industry, as I said before you have to be able to laugh at yourself. Coming to Limerick for a gig has been eye-opening, the ‘house party’ culture you have down here is unbelievable, the electronic music scene in Dublin is totally different in my view.

E: How did you become involved with Prescription?

K: Prescription got in touch with us and we were sold based on the vision Lay put forward. The organisation and the attention to detail was mind-blowing. Consistency is key with something like this and Prescription really delivered.

E: Will you be venturing to other cities in Ireland?

K: Most definitely! This has been our first venture outside of Dublin. We’ve played Amsterdam before but now we want to take Soft Boy Records to Galway and Cork. As far as I am concerned we have no barriers and I really do think that confidence-wise “fake it until you make it” is something to live by.

EILIS: How did Prescription begin?

LAOLU: Prescription itself began in May of this year. Our first event was in June after talking to Pharmacia, they were quick to get on board with us. In July we hosted the Watermelon Collective from Dublin.

E: What is Prescription's vision?

L: What is really important to us is that the acts get paid fairly. Hip-hop in Ireland is something that needs to be nurtured and to do that, everything needs to be done fairly from the get-go. We do our best to cater to the needs of the artists. On August 6th of this year we organised "SomeDose Day Fest" where the DJs and collectives of Limerick got together and played hip-hop. The likes of Olivia Chau, Adam Bentley - all DIE DJs were involved, Tom Prendergast who used to be involved in The Blind Pig also joined us. It was so important that everyone's point of views were respected. 

E: Talk me through how the collaboration with Soft Boy Records came about?

L: Kevin (Kojaque) and I are friends, so then I started talking to Kean Kavanagh, their manager. We started talks in April and May of this year and dived into preparations in August. The whole process was very hands-on and again, the comfort of everyone involved was key. 

E: What's next for Prescription? Are you hoping to expand?

L: We want to showcase Irish acts and DJs, covering genres of hip-hop, grime and RnB. Some amazing artists are right under your nose - take Luka Palm for example! We want to go bigger scale, host some international acts and take Prescription to other counties!

E: How has Limerick been for you? I know you moved down from Dublin a while back, what has that been like?

L: Limerick as a place is really fresh - full of unique artists. Dublin sometimes can become over-saturated, with the same events going on so I was delighted to check it out here. I fully appreciate the Limerick hedz. I know the boys from Flow Night and attended Valley of the Arts which was a big eye-opener! The festival was so musically expressive.

E:  What is the future of hip-hop like in your view?

L: I can see it spreading, for sure. If more collaborations take place - the support from LSAD and UL has been unbelievable, with lots of students showing up to events. So I can see more university-based events happening in the future. There is a lot of openness in the hip-hop scene because it is so young. I reckon it'll need at least five to ten years to develop properly. 

E: What words of advice have you to both the artists and supporters of this genre?

L: Support this genre of music - it's so unique! The Irish scene is so unexpected and so exciting. So have fun, don't be so serious and please showcase Irish acts as much as possible.



I learned so much about hip-hop from that thirty-minute conversation with Lay. I think you'll see me sharing more hip-hop style music on both this blog and on social media soon. 

Make A Move Festival began on the 5th of October and finishes tomorrow, so please do head into Limerick city and check out what's going on - the people behind it have worked so hard and I'd like to show them support.