Spotlight On: deathtoricky, the Pioneer of the Irish underground

Last August, I attended a free Victory Lap x Levi’s gig in Elephant and Castle to see YT (a main figurehead of the UK underground music scene), but I left with one name stuck in my head: deathtoricky.

The UK and Irish underground movements have exploded over the last two years, with the likes of Fakemink and Fimiguerrero gaining international traction. But recently, the UK scene has slowed down, as many bigger names have failed to release new music. As a result, the Irish underground music scene has come to the forefront, with the likes of earfzilla, survival, and Curtisy releasing music consistently. The movement’s main figurehead is deathtoricky, who has played the biggest role in putting Irish alternative rap on the map.

Hailing from Celbridge in Ireland, it seems almost impossible for an artist from such a niche background to make it this far. However, this is a perfect example of the beauty of the underground scene. Obscurity is beneficial as counterculture movements give the smallest voices a platform to express themselves, against the mainstream and wholly against the grain.

deathtoricky proves that there are no boundaries for Irish music

Despite his youth, at just nineteen, deathtoricky has already been through a musical transformation, changing from rapping in an American accent to an Irish one. This might seem insignificant; however, early U.S. listeners ridiculed English accents in rap music. For deathtoricky to then take it a step further makes it a humongous risk, displaying one of his greatest qualities, which is being genuine, authentic and unapologetically himself. Taking inspiration from Lil Uzi Vert and Xaviersobased (two influential figures in alternative hip-hop), deathtoricky proves that there are no boundaries for Irish music and, as he so poignantly puts it, in an interview with Kids Take Over, “If you want it, you can really like do what you want to do”.

From a musical standpoint, deathtoricky performs on beats reminiscent of the SoundCloud era (often compared to the UK and Irish underground scene), with his biggest song ‘motives’ sampling Martin Solveig’s cult classic ‘Hello’, providing a sense of nostalgia prominent in the underground scene. This nostalgia is enhanced by his aesthetics and visuals, with his music videos (shot by Cian Bolger) containing high saturation and a simple green screen, as seen in the music video for ‘all year’. His newest single ‘Champagne’ has exploded due to a snippet of the song, from a Victory Lap radio live stream, going viral on TikTok and it certainly does not disappoint. The combination of the Irish accent with an infectious beat serves for infinite replays and many believe this could be his breakout year. Alongside this, his recent EP pre life is a strong start to a promised trilogy of EPs, with standout tracks being ‘lemon haze’ and ‘get it up’.

If you listen to one of his songs and enjoy it, it is almost impossible for you not to fall in love with his whole discography, and I am proof of this

Another aspect of underground music is the nature of cult following, and deathtoricky’s fanbase is a perfect example of this. As of  19 October, he has 60.8 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, and if he announced a tour, venues are likely to sell out. This highlights a key debate within the underground circles, and music in general, which is the desire to break out into the mainstream. Achieving mainstream status is no longer the goal of the modern artist; the illusion of monthly listeners seeks to deceive people rather than display actual truths. The truth is that having a high number of streams does not necessarily equate to a high number of fans. While streams show how many people listen, they do not display these listeners’ level of admiration for the artist. This is another aspect of deathtoricky that makes him stand out as an artist. If you listen to one of his songs and enjoy it, it is almost impossible for you not to fall in love with his whole discography, and I am proof of this

My advice is to invest your stocks in deathtoricky. With his monthly listeners rising by the day, his explosion onto the global music scene is imminent, and I strongly suggest he is added to your musical rotation. My recommendations are ‘fido’, ‘brazil’, and ‘all year’ as starter songs for, hopefully, a lifelong investment.