Kojaque releases debut album, Town’s Dead

Early praise for Town’s Dead

"An evocative, diverse and shatteringly real reflection of the current state of the city that spawned it" - NME

"A true generational talent and probably Ireland's best export in the last ten years” - Earmilk

"A sharp, poetic release from Ireland’s most rightly lionised rapper" - 9 out of 10 stars, Loud + Quiet

“An ambitious and genre-defying album...the variety of songs on Town’s Dead show Kojaque at his messy, earnest, angsty best.” - Clash Magazine 

Kojaque has today released his much-anticipated debut album Town’s Dead,which is available now on Soft Boy Records / Different Recordings. Already receiving widespread acclaim, and with further support across Radio 1, 1xtra, 6Music, COLORs, and more, Town’s Dead is Kojaque’s follow-up to debut mixtape Deli Daydreams: a concept piece which became the first release of its kind to be nominated for the prestigious Choice Music Prize and took Kojaque everywhere from tours with slowthai and Lana Del Rey to a Boiler Room documentary on the influence of his label and collective Soft Boy. The Town’s Dead tour is on sale now for late 2021 (full details below).

One of the year’s most distinct debuts, Town’s Dead is an expansive and urgent tour-de-force that speeds headlong into sex, violence, and the claustrophobia of your hometown. Within, Kojaque documents a tumultuous love triangle as it unfolds across New Year's Eve, with results that are as cinematic as they are political and deeply personal. Dark corners of parks, bedrooms, clubs, streets, and psyches are excavated, and pouring over the rubble is an artist unafraid of the vulnerabilities that are exposed when the voice rings true because there’s just no point in being anything else. Through breakups and breakdowns, Town’s Dead teeters on the brink, spilling from the mind of a singular talent onto streets scaffolded by a broken system but still suffused with love.

Town’s Dead sees Kojaque build a distinct world and invite the listener inside it - and it’s one in which music, film, humor, and at times visceral storytelling all go hand in hand. Few contemporary rappers, after all, can claim to be an award-winning film-maker (for his ‘Love In Technicolor’ film), have been invited to talk at Trinity College’s Philosophical Society, or develop work in residence for the RHA gallery. Kojaque is part of a new wave of Irish artists making the world sit-up with blistering and sophisticated art - ideas and work that emerged from a social revolution, stonewalled by late-stage capitalism. Welcome to Town’s Dead, where it is - despite everything - New Year’s Eve, the countdown to midnight is on, and Betty’s fella’s got a gun…

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 (sold out)

Sat-Nov-20-21 - Ireland - Galway, Black Box

Fri-Nov-26-21 - Ireland - Limerick, Dolans Warehouse

Sat-Nov-27-21 - Ireland - Cork, Cyprus Avenue

 Praise for Town’s Dead:

"A sharp, poetic release from Ireland’s most rightly lionised rapper...few albums this year can be as potent as this" - 9 out of 10 stars, Loud + Quiet

“An ambitious and genre-defying album...the variety of songs on Town’s Dead show Kojaque at his messy, earnest, angsty best.” - Clash Magazine 

"Town’s Dead is an evocative, diverse and shatteringly real reflection of the current state of the city that spawned it" - NME

"A true generational talent and probably Ireland's best export in the last ten years” - Earmilk

"Dripping with humor, personality and cinematic storytelling...Town's Dead is all you could ever want in a debut" - 4 out of 5 stars, DIY

"A devastating critique of Dublin's establishment on his extraordinary new album" - Hotpress, 9 out of 10 stars, Album of the Month

“An ode to Dublin’s own génération perdue and beyond. Capturing the frustration of a city alive with creativity but crushed by capitalism, Town’s Dead portrays the actual cost of art through adversity” - 5 out of 5 stars,  The Last Mixtape

“Fantastic from start to finish, a sonically impressive and varied release that acts as a deep cut into Kojaque’s intriguing mind” - 5 out of 5 stars, Goldenplec

"The Dublin MC forcing us to face real life; both the gory and the glory" - Wonderland

"An unlikely force putting Dublin rap on the map" - Line of Best Fit

"The Irish rap agitator" - The Face