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'Whether you find the Dublin hip hop duo funny or not, there's no excuse for Versatile's racist lyrics'

If you think Versatile’s work is satirical, you probably don’t understand satire.

IF YOU HAVEN’T heard of Dublin hip hop duo Versatile yet, they’re a pair of lads who have been packing out tents at Irish festivals all summer. 

One of their most recent singles, ‘Ketamine’, is nearing 2 million views on YouTube, but if you haven’t listened to that yet, it’s likely that you’ll recognise their voices from those Lifestyle Sports ads about hairy ankles. 

Life Style Sports / YouTube

Versatile’s performance at Electric Picnic was lauded by many. The Irish Times called the pair of them ‘explosive’ and said that they outshone Kendrick Lamar’s mainstage set when they took over the Electric Arena. 

There’s no denying that the audience at Life Festival absolutely lost it when Versatile performed ‘Ketamine‘ back in June. There’s plenty of footage from the gig to illustrate that fact.

OUTBURST PAL / YouTube

It’s very obvious from the lyrical content of their tunes ‘Ketamine‘ and ‘We Sell Brown‘ that rappers Caspar Walsh and Eskimo Supreme are taking the piss. 

Their fans either like them because they think lyrics like “We dished out the most brown in the country / We’re the reason your ma’s a fat junkie” are hilarious and shocking, or because they see some kind of satirical value in the lyrics. 

Sure, the former justification for enjoying Versatile’s music is fine, if you have the sense of humour of a fourteen year old who is desperate to be edgy. However, if you try brush off what they do as satire, then you probably don’t have a very good understanding of what satire is supposed to do.

I’m not going to sit here and write an explainer on how satire works, but as the the old saying goes it “should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.” The point of satire is to challenge the more powerful members of society.

Sure, they’re taking the piss out of drug dealers who seemingly have no consciences, but in doing so they’re normalising the use of words like “junkie” that completely dehumanise individuals suffering with drug addiction.

These are some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the country, but hey, it’s funny to use words that condition us to believe drug addicts lives are worthless but only when you’re at a festival, out of your face, singing along to Versatile’s set. 

Whether you agree with that point or not, there’s no denying that the racism and homophobia in their other songs is completely gratuitous. 

In their 2017 single, Scorching Again, the word f*ggot is needlessly dropped at the end of the song. The exact same point could have been made without using and normalising a homophobic slur which many fans will happily repeat without a second thought.

If you were shocked by the racist joke printed in the Tralee Advertiser over the weekend (which subsequently went viral), then there’s no way you can defend the lyrics of Versatile’s ‘Dublin City G’s‘. As you can see in this screenshot from Rap Genius, the second verse of the song is not only crude, but also inexcusably racist. 

PastedImage-11935 Rap Genius Rap Genius

In just a few lines, they manage to objectify black women in a pretty disgusting manner, spout off some lazy racial stereotypes and fetishise black men, too. But hey! It’s okay to do that once you explain to everyone that it’s just satire and they are only offended because they don’t understand it. Go outside and use a racist or homophobic slur, then defend yourself by saying it’s just satire and see where that gets you.

There’s a line from the latest season of Bojack Horseman which probably applies to the personas that Versatile are portraying in their music. 

You’re not supposed to like John Philbert or agree with the things he does. It’s a TV show. It doesn’t glamorise anything. But maybe it normalises it. 

Yeah, you’re probably not going to watch a Versatile music video and come away thinking “Oh, they were two sound lads.” In fact, you might actively think the opposite. You’ll either be annoyed by the carry-on out of them, or find it a little humorous. But if you’re singing along and repeating those lyrics, you’re normalising some of these very ugly sentiments that are supposed to be “jokes”. 

It’s only a matter of time before we receive a response to this criticism, claiming that this is “typical Irish begrudgery” and that we hate to see our own succeed. In the case of Irish hip hop, that’s simply not the case. There are plenty of brilliant Irish rappers and producers who have released some excellent work over the last couple of years. 

Rejjie Snow, Rusangano Family and Super Silly have managed to churn out some serious tunes without being even vaguely problematic.

jafarismusic / YouTube

Jafaris went all out for his last music video for the song ‘Found My Feet‘ and hasn’t received anywhere near enough recognition for doing so (the video has just under 20k views – he literally jumped out of an airplane to make this video). Besides the effort put into the video, it’s just a really good song. 

Dublin rapper Kojaque released his flawless debut album Deli Daydreams at the start of the year, and somehow, he managed to go eight entire songs without resorting to racism, sexism and homophobia for a few cheap laughs. 

KOJAQUE / YouTube

I could go on and on. Begrudgery isn’t the issue here. There are plenty of young Irish artists, groups and bands who I’ll happily admit deserve the success and recognition they receive. Versatile just aren’t one of them. 

DailyEdge is on Instagram!

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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Oct 2nd 2018, 8:47 AM

    I don’t begrudge them one bit, from seeing them chill in a Spar eating rolls, they got together and decided to JFDI. Their act has always been to take the mick out of what has happened around them, and that’s why they can get away with the gratuity. A lovelorn young fella thinking about a wan with amber leaf was what got them through after all.

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    Mute Martin Counsel
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    Oct 2nd 2018, 9:49 AM

    Terrible piece of journalism! Young lads breaking their bollox to make something of them selves and you have this shite put out to try slander them, scraping the barrel for a story cop on.

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    Mute Asha
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    Oct 2nd 2018, 12:25 PM

    @Martin Counsel: I have to agree with Martin here. My Grandad owned 2 slaves but he worked hard to earn those slaves so i don’t see what the problem is?

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    Mute Ross Keogh
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    Oct 3rd 2018, 2:14 PM

    @Asha: yah Asha dats loike so offensive loike, think about Palestine loike

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    Mute Asha
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    Oct 4th 2018, 10:25 AM

    @Ross Keogh: What a comeback Ben Shapiro

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    Mute Abbie Cranky
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    Oct 2nd 2018, 11:57 AM

    Kojaque and Rejjie Snow are fantastic … can’t wait to see them do well. Get more recognition

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    Mute Ross Keogh
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    Oct 3rd 2018, 2:11 PM

    Er mah Gerd, the gluten free social justice crew are offended… Derp derpy Derp.

    Yah loike, you wouldn’t here the loikes of that in Berghain

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    Mute Seamus Wergnakkin
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    Oct 4th 2018, 12:38 PM

    Satire doesn’t mean sticking it to the man by any measure of the word.

    It’s “the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices”, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.

    I think it’s you who needs to learn what satire means, not the readers.

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    Mute Sean O'Nilbud
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    Oct 3rd 2018, 12:50 PM

    Aww the poor junkies, poor poor junkies.

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    Mute gary connolly
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    Jul 24th 2019, 7:43 PM

    @Sean O’Nilbud:
    I’m glad you have led such a privileged life and haven’t had to suffer the heartache of having a loved one or for that matter yourself addicted to drugs. Because when you grow up and if you are unlucky enough to have someone you love or yourself addicted to drugs then lets see will you be coming out with your sarcastic, Aww the poor junkies.

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    Mute Andrew JB
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    Jul 13th 2020, 7:13 AM

    So what if it’s not strictly satirical? It’s comedy! Being afraid that their lyrics will turn young listeners into racist misogynists is like the “video games cause violence” argument

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    Mute fitzchiv
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    Jul 19th 2019, 12:33 AM

    what a horrible race baiting middle class piece of crud you are

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