Ranging from poets to academics to photography – these are the names you should be looking out for in future.
Emma Dabiri
Emma Dabiri is an author TV presenter, PhD researcher at Goldsmiths, and teaching fellow in the Africa department at SOAS. She has published in a number of academic journals, as well as the national press, and is one of the BBC's Expert Voices.
Her book Don't Touch My Hair is a gleaming, intellectual investigation into black women and the very serious business of their hair, as it pertains to race, gender, social codes, tradition, culture, cosmology, maths, politics, philosophy and history, and also the role of hairstyles in pre-colonial Africa.
Vanessa Ifiedora
Vanessa Ifiedora is a skilled photographer living in Northern Ireland whose book Off-White Sheets is as hauntingly beautiful as it is wildly impressive. Aside from wedding work, she has also photographed a number of prominent people and organisations for newspapers and magazines. Check out her website here.
Pints of Malt Podcast
Pints of Malt is an excellent podcast in which 'four Nigerian/Irish lads share their experiences growing up and living in Ireland.' The podcast is full of laughs from the get-go and covers a range of topical issues such as The Rise of The Karen and day-to-day racism. Follow them here.
Zithelo Bobby Mthombeni
Zithelo Bobby Mthombeni is a Dublin-based filmmaker and photographer who directed 'This Land', a new documentary about race, immigration and Irishness which is featured on YouTube.
'This Land' explores cultural identity in Ireland, by way of portraying new and necessary ways of experiencing Irishness. It also follows the impact racism can have on a person's sense of identity.
It also explores the impact of racism and Direct Provision on the outlook of the people interviewed. More on the piece here.
Soulé
Born Samantha Kay in London to Congolese parents, Soulé grew up in Balbriggan and is now considered the leading force in a new wave of emerging Irish music.
The Dublin based electronic pop artist has become famous for her way of matching bass-heavy sound and soft, soulful vocals.
Tebi Rex
Fronted by Matt O’Baoill and Max Zanga, Tebi Rex is made up of two young Maynooth men who have been building an impressive repertoire at the forefront of Ireland's hip-hop uprising of late. Their songs are as infectious as they are important, with songs like Black Enough spreading a message as well as getting people to dance.
Erica Cody
Erica Cody is a Dublin-based singer-songwriter who began singing at three and writing lyrics at seven years of age. She's been hailed as a 'throwback artist' with her debut EP 'Leoness' being linked back to likes of 'Aphrodisiac' by Brandy.
In 2019/2020 she's gone from strength to strength, setting the gold standard for Irish R'n'B artists as well as honed songwriters internationally.
Melatu Uche Okorie
Melatu Uche Okorie is a writer and scholar. Born in Nigeria, she moved to Ireland in 2006. It was during her eight and a half years living in the direct provision system that she began to write. She has an M. Phil. in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Dublin, and has had works published in numerous anthologies.
Her first book This Hostel Life tells the stories of migrant women in a hidden Ireland. From a day in the life of women queuing for basic supplies in an Irish direct provision hostel to a young black woman’s depiction of everyday racism in Ireland, her nuanced take shines a light on the injustice of the direct provision system and on the insidious racism experienced by migrant women living in Ireland.
Slight Motif
Slight Motif is an urban organisation based in Ireland with the sole intention of growing with, branding and supporting urban talent in the country. Their website is a refreshing space within a saturated market that covers fresh, new and interesting events, artists and creatives in Ireland who deserve to be celebrated.
Mona-Lxsa
Mona-Lxsa is a successful DJ who has progressed steadily in the music scene Ireland, playing several times at both Longitude and Electric Picnic. After finding trouble breaking into the Irish music scene, the impressive then-26-year-old took it upon herself to launch GXRL CODE, a collective of Irish creatives who provide a platform for all women across a number of industries.
Denise Chaila
Having recently gripped the hearts of the nation by way of The Late Late Show with her eloquence and soft-spoken grace, Limerick-born Denise Chaila is poet, rapper, philosopher and feminist all in one.
Her debut EP, Duel Citizenship (the misspelling is deliberate – a testament to her unapologetic and combative spirit), was hugely well-received by critics which, in turn, opened many previously-closed doors. A deep thinker, articulate wordsmith and endearing presence, Chaila has most certainly changed the game for Irish women's rap – and it appears that she's only getting started.
Main image by @vanessaifediora
