Thumbstopper: SELLÓ and Offica land huge punches in ‘Oggy’
Sello and Offica via Youtube
Thumbstopper: SELLÓ and Offica land huge punches in ‘Oggy’
Words: Dylan Murphy
Stop scrolling – Thumbstopper is the must listen to song of the day. Today, two of Ireland’s drill heavy weights join forces on a song that threatens to blow the lid off the scene.
Repping your area is an intrinsic part of drill music. While Ireland might be world’s away from the postcode wars of London, there’s clear parallels between the sounds coming out of both sides of the Irish sea. The new wave of up and coming acts from Ireland are slowly finding their feet and as they start to prick the ears of a global audience they’re making sure they bring their hometown with them.
D22’s SELLÓ was one of lockdown’s break out acts. Despite only releasing a handful of tracks, the rapper from the capital has gone on to forge a distinctive lane for himself in a scene that’s under threat of becoming oversaturated. Coining his own brand of ‘Gaelic drill’, SELLÓ enlisted a mix of Irish and english in his previous two releases ‘Dublin‘ and ‘As Gaeilge‘ and now he’s teamed up with another heavyweight in Offica.
Featuring anthemic production in a celebration of black Irishness, the pair ‘s collaboration lands after what has been a busy year for the both of them.
Speaking on the track SELLÓ said, “The theme of the song is black Irishness and I came to studio one day with that message in mind as it was a big topic in Ireland at the time about how native Irish are not aware of the layers to black Irishness”.
“So it was important for me and my manager Gino, to put an emphasis on black Irishness and came up with the hook within an hour. Putting Offica on the song was strategic because he’s also very connected to his roots and wanted to represent the people connected to their heritage and culture. He added his Nigerian Yoruba lyrics within his drill wordplay, allowing him to proudly showcase his Nigerian side while I continue to stand up for all my black Irish peers.”
Watch the video for ‘Oggy‘ below:
Elsewhere on District: An introduction to Irish drill music.
