Unofficial Hip Hop Nation are using the community spirit in Irish hip hop to reduce mental health stigmas and combat suicide.

On April 19 in Social & Co in Limerick a host of Irish MCs will donate their time and voices in aid of Corbett Suicide Prevention.

We caught up with the man behind the idea, Sean Murray, who says it’s also a platform to detail Limerick’s burgeoning hip hop scene.

“There aren’t many platforms for artists to perform, except solo gigs. So with that in mind I decided to create a night that would provide the artists a chance to showcase themselves with a night solely for hip hop. And with suicide being such an issue at the moment, I decided it would be great to do it all for that cause.”

Hip hop isn’t known for being open about mental health problems, and that’s another thing Sean aims to tackle.

“We just discussed this topic last night on the hip hop radio show me and my mates run. Like it’s not ok to announce that you don’t feel OK or you need help. So it really made sense to do a night that can promote both topics on the back of each other.”

Performing on the night will be Uppbeat, Red The Future, Kreoghost Daly, Indecisive, Keith Weenz Ryan with a full live band, plus more to be announced.

“Ireland in the next short few years is really gonna blow up on the worldwide hip hop scene. Last year and this year have really proven that, and there are more and more new artists emerging everyday which is so good to see! Irish rap is so distinguishable from other countries because of the accents and styles, and it’s just really new and fresh to listen to.”

Sean concludes, “All the artists on the night are performing for free and travelling from all over the country to do it. That just doesn’t seem to happen enough in other scenes.”

Click here for more information on the night.