To all who insist that rap is a purely American art form, let me say I generally agree. There’s maybe a handful (maybe less) of British rappers worth hearing, and a couple French ones. So…Irish?
I was skeptical. Rejjie Snow is about as international as an American can be. Born in Dublin to parents from Nigeria and Jamaica, he transferred to Florida during college and then moved to George to attend SCAD. Having been in the world of trap and Southern rap for a few years, he then went back to Ireland. That might explain the folky sound to his rap, and why you might not even think of this as a rap album. “Why you gotta say mean things about me,” he sings on 23. What rapper would talk about getting their feelings hurt?
Dear Annie is Snow’s first proper album, after some EPs and a mixtape in the past couple years. It’s a solid entry to the world of alt-rap, another movement as the rap genre continues to redefine itself.
