Curtisy - UK/Ireland Tour + 10 Questions
Picture Credit: Danika Magdelena
Curtisy: Ireland’s Next Great Rap Voice Hits the Road.
Hailed by Dazed as “one of the best rappers to ever emerge from Ireland,” Curtisy is bringing his unfiltered lyricism and razor-sharp storytelling to the UK and Ireland this October, with a tour running from the 6th–24th - cop tickets here.
Since linking up with Kojaque just two years ago, Curtisy’s rise has been hard to ignore. He’s stepped into the BBC Radio 1Xtra studio with CassKid, graced the pages of Dazed in a Solomon Pace-McPatrick profile, and delivered standout sets at Wide Awake Festival, Electric Picnic, and All Together Now. Alongside that, he’s opened for Wiki in Dublin, dropped a future-facing collab with hyper-pop artist Sloucho, and teamed up with producer hikii for Beauty In The Beast—a mixtape about finding hope in the bleakest moments.
Co-signed by the likes of NTS’s DJ Bempah and Maverick Sabre, Curtisy stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ireland’s new wave of talent—artists like Fontaines D.C., Rejjie Snow, Kojaque, Gemma Dunleavy, Kneecap, and Sprints, all reshaping the cultural landscape against the odds.
Sonically, his work draws comparisons to Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE, but what sets Curtisy apart is his balance of vulnerability, humour, and sharp self-awareness. His verses often read like journal entries—honest snapshots of everyday life, rooted in the working-class community he calls home. More than just a rapper, he’s part of a new generation of Irish storytellers, laying bare their inner worlds with disarming clarity.
This October, audiences across the UK and Ireland will get to witness that honesty live.
Curtisy sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:
1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?
I’ve only recently tried to trace the steps back and I think I might owe it to my brother and his taste in music.
If Dean was listening to music, the whole gaff would know about it. He was a big 50 Cent guy, big poster on his door (on the outside for some reason).
We were both mad for the PlayStation and my brother got the 50 Cent game for PS2 when it came out, the more I played the game the more I realised that this is my type of music and it just snowballed. Soon enough I was rinsing Akon CD’s in the car on the way to school, and watching Channel AKA on tv when I got home. My mam would get me new CDs for the car every year at christmas. The poor woman probably heard Tyler’s Cherry Bomb album 300 times.
I really fell in love with rap early through loving,shared experiences and I guess I’ve consumed so much of it that it’s just coming out of me now.
I stumbled across the fact that I could create, thank god.
2. Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?
I love weird! Anyone that expresses themselves in a way that’s new is super interesting to me.
I’ve been listening to alot of El Cousteau lately, there’s so much to unpack in every project.
This guy has these really loose, conversation-like flows and these tight intricate flows that he can seamlessly switch between from bar to bar never mind song to song. It all feels like honest, in the moment self-expression, he inspires me to be more unfiltered and off the cuff. I think we’d make a #banger together.
Bruiser Wolf and Zelooperz are the guys for very similar reasons. Their voices and the way they use them are so fresh and strange I can’t ever skip a song from them.
Lil skag is killing it in Ireland too, when I see what he’s coming out with it makes me wanna go harder.
3. What projects do you have coming up and can you give us any info on them?
I’m in love with what I’m working on right now. Me and my guy Owin are locked all the way in for a collaborative project.
This one is a real left turn for me sonically, we’ve got trap drums and harmonies and all sorts of exciting things littered through the project that I didn’t think I was even capable of. Owin’s production is so interesting, so full of life it really brings such fresh energy out of me. This project is based around the idea that you have to get outside and experience life to be able to create, For me to be able to create. I need to get outside with friends and really experience life, gather some memories… That’s what this project is about.
4. You're going on tour in October, are there any shows in particular you're looking forward to?
I just love the tour man, every show has it’s unique moment’s I’m equally excited for every single date.
It’s going to be unreal running around the UK performing for new people and making connections but it’s also gonna be sick performing for my friends, family and OG fans in Dublin. I’m in my element when I’m on tour, I love seeing new places, eating new things. Even the hunt for something to smoke is fun to me.
I’ve been a bit of a messer on previous smaller tours so for this one the vibe is minimal beers and maximum hours of sleep.
5. What's your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?
It has to be being nominated for Album Of The Year at the RTE Choice Prize, alongside the likes of Kneecap and Fontaines.
I grew up seeing/hearing RTE everyday in the gaff so to be recognised for a collection of music I made with friends in Jobstown is overly cool.
My mam couldn’t believe it, herself, my dad, my siblings, my partner and my friends came out to scream and shout for me.
It was an honour to be apart of and honestly gave me so much confidence in my craft, we didn’t get the win but it was expected (Shoutout to Fontaines D.C) and it wasn’t about that for me!
Picture Credit: Patrick Fleming
6. Irish music is in abundantly rude health and you have many Irish artists supporting you on tour. In your opinion, what is it about Ireland right now that is making it such a hotbed for hip-hip and hip-hop adjacent talent, and who are you vibing to at the moment?
I think the more people see artists doing what they love and making a name for themselves here, the more people realise this stuff is really possible. Ireland is home to such characters, it only makes sense that so much interesting music is coming from here. The scene here is multiplying every day, especially the underground rap scene. Deathtoricky having his moment seems to have put a battery in the back of so many other younger rappers to create! Some people from Ireland to watch out for are Lil Skag, beddyminaj, Vatican Jail, C2… I could go on forever.
7. You recently opened for NYC rapper Wiki at his Dublin show, did you guys get to hang out? How was that experience?
I still can’t believe this happened, Wiki is a superhero to me so opening for him is just surreal. This guys soundcheck was a show in itself, real rap music! Hearing all the hits live really highlighted the fact that he’s been a big chunk of the soundtrack of my adult life. He showed me love for sure, I got a shoutout on stage #nuts. We didn’t get to chat much on the night but hopefully we cross paths again.
Meet your hero’s, they’re chill.
8. How important do you feel vulnerability is in hip hop?
Theres definitely different sub-categories of hip hop where it’s less important but it’s everything to me.
This stuff really is an outlet to me and to understand how i’m feeling or what i’m making, I have to lay it all bare.
The artists I connect with at the highest level are the artists that say that thing that you thought only you felt, that thing that hurts to say. I’m inherently just a vulnerable person so my music speaks to that, but if someone’s not that way in life then it makes sense that it wouldn’t show in their music.
9. What do you like to do when you're not making music?
Not gonna lie I’m a real deal gamer, always have been. I just got the Nintendo Switch and they can’t get it out of my hand, playing Resident Evil on the bus is a wild experience.
I go outside also! It’s becoming more and more clear to me that locking yourself in a room and trying to force the big album out is not the vibe, and that creativity and that spark comes from life experience. I make sure to see my friends often and laugh loudly when I do.
And i’m trying to chef shit right now, I’ve mastered the egg but we’re not done yet.
10. Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?
Weed, Water and Whimsy.
