INTERVIEW | VERSATILE SPEAK OUT ON LAST YEAR’S SCANDAL AND THEIR NEW SINGLE ‘FLASHY FLASHY’

Ireland’s most controversial and intriguing hip-hop duo, Versatile have been noticeably absent from the public eye for a while. With the fascinating pair rarely giving interviews, they finally break their silence and allow LTW an opportunity to meet the boys behind their characters.

After starting to record YouTube videos in 2014, the two became notorious for their overemphasis of the Dublin, working-class, drug dealer stereotype. Their image plays a large part in their silhouette and goes hand-in-hand with their achievements. With their striking hip-hop sound and immature demeaners, their farcical image is one that is hard to forget.

Casey ‘Casper’ Walsh and Alex ‘Eskimo Supreme’ Sheehan’s names started to grow with their music and the gossip that surrounded them last year. But as their profile grew, so did the ambiguity that the media just couldn’t seem to leave alone. It would be impossible to ignore the controversy that surrounded their lyrics last year with the media labelling their songs as ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’.

“That’s all a load of BOLLOX, don’t mind any of that!” Sheehan begins. “Anyone that takes what we say in our tracks seriously is an idiot!”

Walsh adds, “We’re just all about having a laugh, f***ing around and making some tunes while we’re at it!”

For generations hip-hop has come under scrutiny for its misogynistic lyrics and it seems Versatile were no strangers to being targeted by the media. “I think people take us too seriously in general, the media has had a field day making a hideous monster of us!” Walsh admits. However, after having already driven music fans and media alike to despair and delight in equal measure, they now look to continue their signature lack of subtlety with new single, ‘Flashy Flashy’ and with a Snoop Dogg tour announced for 2021. The new track comes with an accompanying video that lives up to it’s ‘flashy flashy’ name.

Speaking of the new video, Sheehan states, “It just comes from our experience in Dublin. We have very colourful adventure-filled lives here in our hometown with all the characters we grew up with and we project that experience into our music”.

“I hope [the fans] absolutely adore it” Walsh continues.

The duo recently won Best Hip Hop Act at the UK Urban Music Awards 2020 with previous winners including Stormzy, Tinie Tempah and many more. “We met a few heads there, but a lot of their names escape me now. We were on a lovely one so that’s probably why I can’t remember much. I do remember seeing Aj Tracey at it though”

Last year, their headline show at Cork Marquee sold out in a matter of hours making it the largest Hip Hop concert to be headlined by an Irish artist in Ireland. This success was soon followed by their unforgettable performance at Longitude Festival ‘19 to a 40,000 strong crowd. “We licked a load of arses backstage and got our arses licked. It’s just a big orgy of artists licking arse backstage at festivals” Walsh cheekily admits.

Following this, they sold out their biggest headline concert to date at the 3 Arena Dublin, once again in a matter of hours. Leading up to this show Versatile released a single & music video for ‘Escape Wagon’ with Grammy award winning West Coast Legend, Coolio. The Compton legend joined Versatile as a surprise guest at their sold out 3 Arena show in Dublin and they performed ‘Escape Wagon’ and his Grammy award winning anthem ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ together.

“Someone sent us an article basically saying that Coolio was fucking with Versatile and he likes how we keep the Dublin accent when we rap,” Sheehan reminisces. “Coolio is a f*cking hero, he was telling us mad stories from back in the day and we had a whopper f*ck off session with him. Although, me and Casey did sh*t our jocks one morning when we binned Coolio’s homemade chicken by accident. We thought he was gonna shoot both of us on sight. Looking forward to linking back up with him soon”

Their new video shows the boys flashing the cash and getting ‘the watch in’ and, with a less colourful demeaner to the melody, it is made-up with a video that fits the Versatile charm. ‘Flashy Flashy’ is a statement that shows the boys are back in full force and still don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks.

With a Snoop Dogg tour just round the corner, they are set to be playing iconic venues like the o2 arena in London, The Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam and of course their home town 3 Arena in Dublin., Sheehan laughs, “What the fuck are cunts gonna think when these two Dubs rock onto the stage beside all these OG’s?”

A new album lurks in the near future and from it, realistically, we know what to expect. It will be controversial, opinionated and probably not suitable for any ears. “What the fans can expect from the album is to be bent over, spanked, caressed, passionately kissed and told there’s somebody out there that really cares about them. It’s gonna be like a hug from an old friend”

So, there you have it.

Stream the new track HERE