Mix of the Week 5/9: Kojaque & Luka Palm - 'Green Diesel' Mixtape
Kojaque has exploded beyond his home of Dublin over 2018 following the release of his Deli Daydreams project in February of last year. As this success has taken him to sold out shows and festivals across Europe, Kojaque has worked with Luka Palm, a Swedish-born and Dublin raised rapper who is a member of the Kojaque live show. Becoming close collaborators on previous tracks 'Politiksis' and 'Date Night', the two have worked together to release an 11-track mixtape. Green Diesel releases today and shows the strengths of the Dublin hip/hop scene.
All along the mixtape, the two spit bars, accompanied by downbeat, trap drum machines and simple reverb heavy instrumentals. With this relatively basic beat, all the focus is on Kojaque and Luka Palm. Lead track ‘Airbnb’ is a great starting point for those unfamiliar with the artists and Dublin hip/hop. The mean bassline combined with the infectious hook gives the track accessibility and highlights that Irish rappers go just as hard as the rest of the rappers across the globe. Other songs serve to highlight the distinct Irish identity of the duo. Tracks like ‘Fruity Pebbles’ and ‘SPIT DAT OUT’ revel in the use of thick Irish accents. This uncommon rapping accent has a good rhythm to it, allowing it to work in hip/hop, but more importantly there is an attitude to it. Like Conor McGregor mid-rant, a fast talking, lyrical sounding, pissed off Irishman has a musical quality to his voice and this is on full display on the mixtape. A standout track is ‘Paris Texas’, which is the slowest song of the mixtape. The gentle piano melody works perfectly with the soulful hook to create a much needed soft, emotional track.
Describing how the project came about, Kojaque says, "we started out wanting to make a short project, four tracks or something, but the more we worked together the more the tunes piled up, until we had like 11 tracks together, we kept working on um and finessing then and chose the ones that flowed together the best. The project is all energy, we pushed each other to make it and to get it to a place we're both really happy with. I think you can see a lot of passion in the project and some bangin' f*ckin tunes."
Green Diesel is out today on all online streaming platforms. Check out the video clip for ‘Airbnb’ below.
