New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On the heels of his just-announced debut album Town's Dead (June 25) via his own Soft Boy Records and Different Recordings, rising Dublin rapper/producer Kojaque has released the music video for new single "Town's Dead."
The chaotic musical world Kojaque has built comes to a "head" in the video, which begins with a pinata accident. A little girl puts makeup on Kojaque's severed head as he gleefully raps, "heads are gonna roll soon, no warning / this town's not dead it's just dormant."
Kojaque co-directed the video with his longtime collaborator Sam McGrath (Flu Shot, Airbnb, Date Night, Bubby's Cream, White Noise).
"Everyone that we approached about this music video told us that it would be impossible to pull off. The concept, the locations, the time frame, they all said the same thing, re-think the idea, minimise it and try again, we chose to ignore that advice and do it ourselves. I have to commend Sam McGrath and Freddie O'Donohue on this, I was so ready to give up and do something less ambitious but they convinced me it could be done and I think the finished product speaks for itself. I've never worked on something more ambitious or left of field than this, I still can't believe that we pulled it off. Have to give a special shout to Jack Needham on VFX, I don't know how he did it and we couldn't have done it without him. This video went through at least 10 to 15 different iterations before we finally came to this idea, it started with Sam suggesting that my head gets knocked off the minute the track begins, it all kind of just snowballed from there. There were a lot of different influences that inspired both the idea and aesthetics, from Sleepy Hallows, to A BOY IS A GUN even
Aphex Twin and Remains of The Day, it was a pretty extensive mood board. We storyboarded the whole thing out within an inch of it's life, as we usually do, and powered through it in two days. Without a shadow of a doubt it's the best video I've made. There were so many amazing people working on it, from the cast to the crew and everyone in between, there's far too many to thank but I'm so appreciative of every single one." - Kojaque
Town's Dead, Kojaque's debut LP (out June 25) spans an impressive gamut over 16 tracks, charging through rap, punk rock and jazz-flecked mellow moments to create an atmosphere that's equally chaotic and reflective. While Kojaque created the bulk of the album itself when he was just 19, it includes contributions from his Soft Boy label collaborators Brién and Kean Kavanagh, with production from slowthai producer Kwes Darko and guest appearances by Biig Piig, Celia Tiab and
Maverick Sabre.
Kojaque has toured with slowthai and Lana Del Rey, performed at Glastonbury and Pitchfork Paris, made his COLORS debut this past summer, and the record label he co-founded has been the subject of its own Boiler Roomdocumentary. Kojaque first started writing Town's Dead when he was 19, and made it mostly on his laptop in his bedroom and on tour busses. From spewing rage to tender ruminations, he confronts a broken system, the out of control gentrification of Dublin, toxic masculinity, the loss of his father, and more, all in the pressure cooker claustrophobia of a hometown.
Kojaque has previously shared singles from the album including "Shmelly", "Coming Up," and "No Hands," which was just released in February. Watch the "
No Hands" video, which Kojaque directed, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW09KDx3pY8
Pre-order Town's Dead (available on Digital, CD, 2LP, 2LP deluxe, & Cassette): https://kojaque.ffm.to/towns-dead
Tickets to Kojaque's EU headline tour are on sale now - https://kojaque.com/tour/
Tue-Nov-02-21 - Holland - Amsterdam, Paradiso Upstairs
Wed-Nov-03-21 - Germany - Berlin, Kantine am Berghain
Thu-Nov-04-21 - Belgium - Brussels, Botanique/Witloofbar
Sat-Nov-06-21 - France - Paris , La Boule Noire
Tue-Nov-09-21 - UK - Glasgow , King Tuts
Wed-Nov-10-21 - UK - Leeds, Belgrave
Music Hall
Thu-Nov-11-21 - UK - Manchester, Yes (Pink Room)
Sat-Nov-13-21 - UK - Bristol, Rough Trade
Sun-Nov-14-21 - UK - Birmingham,
Institute 3
Tue-Nov-16-21 - UK - London, Village Underground
Fri-Nov-19-21 - Ireland - Dublin, Olympia
Sat-Nov-20-21 - Ireland - Galway ,
Black Box
Fri-Nov-26-21 - Ireland - Limerick, Dolans Warehouse
Sat-Nov-27-21 - Ireland - Cork, Cyprus Avenue.
