The phone picks up and (in an admittedly biased way ) I am expecting the sound of a laid back, overly blinged out, slightly arrogant musician. What I am not expecting is the polite, bubbly, and energetic Dublin accent that comes down the telephone line at me. It hardly paints a picture of your stereotypical hip-hop/rap star. But then again Messiah J & The Expert are hardly your stereotypical hip-hop duo.
As one half of Ireland’s most successful hip-hop duo, Messiah J (whose real name is John ), speaks with a passion and an experience that makes it obvious that these guys are for real in their quest to take hip-hop to all new levels, and with the recent release of their third studio album From The Word Go and an upcoming gig at the Roisin Dubh, you can bet the west is going to sit up and listen.
Together for nine years, Messiah J & The Expert first met at a Scratch Perverts instore in 1999. After becoming part of a seven-strong collective called The Stonecutters, the pair formed Creative Controle alongside popular Irish spinner DJ Mayhem, before branching out on their own in 2002 as Messiah J & The Expert. Their first album What’s Confusing You? followed shortly after in 2003, along with a whirlwind tour that featured, throughout the next year, the likes of DJ Flip and K-Why.
In late 2006 the duo would go on to release Now This I Have to Hear, which included some of their best known tracks such as ‘Something Outta Nothing’ and ‘Place Your Bets’. The album, which was nominated for the Choice Music Prize in January of 2007, would seal them places as support for the likes of Public Enemy, Gangstarr, Jurassic 5, Wyclef Jean, and Buck 65.
Describing themselves as a mixture of hip-hop, funk, and psychedelic beats, making it in the rap game in a nation far better known for their love of cheesy pop music and underground indie rock has not been easy on the duo.
“It’s the people we don’t care about who slag it off,” said John. “The people who don’t slag it are the ones we want listening. The ones who listen and understand what we’re doing.”
“I mean, if it’s done badly then slag away, but when it is done right and when it is done well, it can be pretty incredible to hear and experience,” said John. “And I just find that music that is from a place where it isn’t usually common can be very interesting. Like Bjork, for example. She is from Iceland but singing American-European music which is part of what makes her sound so unique.”
“People need to understand that not everybody thinks the way people in the US think,” said John.
So what was is it then that has helped Messiah J & The Expert outlive their Irish and European competition?
“I think we’re hungrier than a lot of other groups out there,” said John. “I know I don’t want to be doing anything else with my life and neither does the Expert.”
“We’re different I think because we’re not just influenced by hip-hop, we listen and study things like sixties psychedelic funk and jazz music,” said John. “So, our music isn’t about the same things as most hip hop. We don’t sing about money or cars, we don’t know about those kinds of things. I mean, I cycle a BMX bike!”
“We haven’t done what is typical in the hip hop scene, which is why we’ve stuck around so long,” said John.
And nine years isn’t anything to cry about, especially being a minority in the Irish music industry. So what has changed for the pair since those first tender years in the industry?
“Things have changed both in our personal lives and in the world,” said John. “We never really knew how to write or sing about society and politics but I finally got my head out of the sand and so did the Expert.”
And the impact has affected both their outlook on life and their newest sounds on From The Word Go, which features collaborations with singers Leda Egri, Joanne Daly and Ro, and Kieran from Delorentos.
“I don’t think they’re going to hear an album like this one this year or next year or even the year after that,” said Messiah J. “It’s a very bold statement to make but it’s true. The album is very eclectic and we have a lot of really catchy songs on there. We’ve got a lot of breezy and poppy songs, and they’ll get stuck in your head.”
Messiah J & The Expert play the Roisin Dubh on Thursday November 6. Tickets are available from the Róisín Dubh and Zhivago. See www.myspace.com/messiahjandtheexpert and www.messiahjandtheexpert.com
