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NCH and District Present Extraterrestrial: A Black Irish Celebration of Identity

May 12, 2021

The National Concert Hall and District present a new production spearheaded by acclaimed poet FeliSpeaks, Extraterrestrial – which sets out to illustrate Ireland’s rich cultural tapestry, by threading together themes of identity, race and community through the lens of the island’s leading rappers and performers.

Performances on the night include rapper and activist JyellowL, whose star has been firmly in the ascent since the release of 2018 EP ‘Me n Me Too’. The former UCD politics student led Black Lives Matter protests in the capital before dropping his Choice Prize-nominated album 2020 ‘D|Vision’. The bill also features RnB star Erica Cody, who is still basking in the glow of the plaudits heaped on her outstanding 2019 EP ‘Leoness’. Like JyellowL, Erica took part in the capital’s BLM protests in 2020, a keen social activist, her experiences of racism in Ireland led to her launching her Don’t Touch My Hair (DTMH) campaign.

Extraterrestrial’s impressive cast list continues with Belfast-based singer and rapper Alicia Raye, who released one of 2020’s most ambitious projects in collaborative mixtape ‘Alphabet’, which saw 40 artists from Ireland’s rap, RnB and Afrobeat scene come together across 26 tracks. The bill also boasts Galway native Celaviedmai, whose legendary live performances have landed her support slots to luminaries such as Lil Wayne, Mac Miller and Tinchy Stryder amongst others. Celaviedmai was one of the organisers of the Youth Against Racism & Inequality Day 2020, which took place in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway.

Additionally, this special concert sees Dundalk drill rapper Reggie take to the NCH stage, his acclaimed 2020 single ‘My Accent’ has been hailed as a powerful rebuke to systemic racism and is a compelling meditation on the black experience in Ireland. Completing the stellar selection of artists is Kildare alt-hip hop duo Tebi Rex, who wowed the crowds at last year’s SXSW and whose critically-acclaimed debut album ‘The Young Will Eat The Old’was one of 2019’s most significant Irish releases.

Extraterrestrial is curated by FeliSpeaks with Craig Connolly and Dylan Murphy of District and aims to showcase the artists cutting through busy public discourse, owning what it is to be othered and challenging outdated notions of Irishness.

Produced by District and NCH
A Free Livestream from the National Concert Hall 
Thursday 20th May 2021, 8pm Ireland/UK | 9pm CET
View on National Concert Hall Youtube/Facebook 
The concert will be available for 7 days following the performance.
This event is supported by The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

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