{"id":650604,"date":"2026-08-22T11:09:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T11:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/650604\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T11:09:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T11:09:21","slug":"irish-rapper-reggie-dundalks-on-top-of-the-world-right-now-the-centre-of-the-universe-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/650604\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish rapper Reggie: \u2018Dundalk\u2019s on top of the world right now. The centre of the universe\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reggie has always been a bit mad. My standout memory of him from school is as a certified messer. Must be something about the walls of Dundalk Grammar School that produced both frontmen in The Mary Wallopers \u2013 one of Ireland\u2019s wildest trad bands \u2013 and, now, a rapper many can\u2019t get out of their heads.<\/p>\n

Reggie\u2019s big break came last year when Fred Again, the British producer widely considered music royalty, remixed Talk of the Town, one of Reggie\u2019s catchiest songs. It\u2019s a self-glorifying track about the artist being \u201cthe talk of the Town\u201d \u2013 the Town being a common nickname for Dundalk<\/a>, of course. I didn\u2019t see him much after leaving school, and we weren\u2019t very close. But my curiosity was piqued last year when a friend mentioned that one of my peers had collaborated with Fred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like Dundalk\u2019s on top of the world right now,\u201d Reggie tells me, boisterous as ever. \u201cThe centre of the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m meeting him at Relief, a barber shop in Dundalk owned by a long-time friend, Kelly Okabi. \u201cFinally, recognition for such great talent,\u201d Okabi is quick to tell me. \u201cHe\u2019s been doing this for years now. It was about time.\u201d<\/p>\n

I notice a tattoo on Reggie\u2019s arm that reads \u201cReggie B\u201d \u2013 a rap moniker from a previous life. The \u201cB\u201d, stands for \u201cbabe\u201d. \u201cI used to be a charmer back in the day,\u201d he says, \u201cso I thought I\u2019d throw a B in there, just to make it a little bit saucy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also keen to display his Risky Business medalliont, a nod to another nickname. \u201cI just feel like music in itself is a risk,\u201d he says. \u201cI took bets on myself from [an early age]. It\u2019s just taking chances on things and aiming big. So it ended up becoming a slogan of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reggie was born in Nigeria and moved to Ireland when he was seven. I ask him about his relationship with his family, who are spread across Ireland, Britain, Canada, Nigeria and mainland Europe. \u201cEveryone\u2019s grown now and living their own life,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of siblings \u2013 I think it\u2019s six. Sometimes I lose count. I don\u2019t see a couple of them in the UK or Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

After school ended, Reggie went on to study quantity surveying at what was then Athlone Institute of Technology. \u201cI was skipping class with the boys,\u201d he admits now, \u201chitting the studio and getting up to all sorts of madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a050 people to watch in 2026: From film and music to arts, activism, sport and moreOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The madness included soccer. \u201cBefore I found music I wanted to be a footballer,\u201d he says. This takes me back to the dread you\u2019d feel on our school pitch when Reggie closed in for a tackle. He was one of those lads you could see going all the way \u2013 and later in his teenage years Reggie played for Newry City FC, making money for every goal scored. His ticket to college was on the back of a sports scholarship. <\/p>\n

\"ReggieReggie at Relief Barber shop, Dundalk, wearing his ‘Risky Business’ medallion. Photograph: Conor Capplis \"ReggieReggie B, the performer’s longtime rapper name – the ‘B’ was lost somewhere along the way. Photograph: Conor Capplis <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I could have went on to play First Division Irish football, but then I started rapping and was living a kind of Hannah Montana lifestyle. I would have a football match in the morning and in the evening I would have a show, so it was getting a bit hectic. I ended up saying, \u2018Whichever makes me the most money, I\u2019m gonna go for that one.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After a year at college Reggie dropped out to focus on music. His parents weren\u2019t too happy. \u201cThe rest of my siblings are engineers and doctors and stuff like that, so I had to show them it was worth pursuing,\u201d he says. During this period, Reggie says, he topped up his music income with \u201cbasic factory work \u2013 nothing major, just to stay afloat\u201d. He eventually left that, too, to focus entirely on his craft.<\/p>\n

His early music was, in Reggie\u2019s words, \u201cmore aggressive\u201d. The drill rap he was emulating had a particular aesthetic: fast cars, wads of cash, (prop) firearms, bully dogs and no shortage of scantily-clad women.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of that music doesn\u2019t get on the radio and you wouldn\u2019t really get a lot of festival bookings,\u201d he says. \u201cSome people would deem it as violent. The inspiration came from UK drill, and obviously that\u2019s related to gang violence and stuff like that. I just knew the artistry that I wanted to do, I wanted it to be for all audiences \u2013 more commercial. That\u2019s why I started making less drill and more rap. I slowly drifted from the hard-core stuff and started making feelgood music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reggie released The Talk of the Town at the height of this era, in 2022. In many ways he had moved on from the track when, last year, Fred Again sampled it during a livestream in Greece.<\/p>\n

Fred \u201csuggested collaborating when he came to Dublin in November. I was, like, \u2018Bro, I\u2019m free. For you, anytime.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Reggie'sReggie’s latest music video was partially shot at Oriel Park, the home ground of Dundalk FC. Photograph: Conor Capplis <\/p>\n

Reggie performed the song at a blowout gig with Fred Again last November. Only a few days\u2019 notice was given, and tickets were like gold dust. This was Reggie\u2019s shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RDS went crazy,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was insane. You had to be there.\u201d RT\u00c9 called it the gig of the year<\/a>, Hot Press called Reggie\u2019s performance an \u201cabsolute firestorm of a track in top form live\u201d<\/a>, and he made sure to represent the Town by wearing a Dundalk FC jersey.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The hottest ticket in town: the Fred Again show in the RDSOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Two days after the RDS concert Fred\u2019s Talk of the Town remix was released to the masses, and for a while it felt inescapable. He was finally getting radio play, doors were opening up in the music industry and, in a full-circle moment, Dundalk FC asked him to model its new kit.<\/p>\n

The song is now one of Fred\u2019s most popular tracks; it has been streamed more than 75 million times on Spotify. It\u2019s a high bar to match going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning there was a lot of pressure, to be fair,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the music industry, though: you can never really tell which one\u2019s gonna go off. I just had to come to terms with the fact that it\u2019s a unicorn song \u2026 Speaking to Fred, and taking advice from someone who is as prolific as he is, he said just focus on the music and don\u2019t care about the numbers. As long as the music\u2019s good and it\u2019s timeless, you\u2019re always gonna catch a unicorn. That\u2019s what I\u2019m gonna do.\u201d<\/p>\n

I ask, with some trepidation, if there\u2019s any truth to the song\u2019s catchiest lyric, \u201cI\u2019ve got girls in every county\u201d \u2013 the woman he\u2019s dating is sitting two metres away. He blushes. \u201cThere are some counties I haven\u2019t been to, but the ones I have been to, I mean, I know some people there.\u201d<\/p>\n

His voice trails off. I sense that\u2019s the last he\u2019d like to say about his love life, present company accounted for.<\/p>\n

We leave the barber shop for a change of scenery. \u201cGrowing up here, all my friends were in this estate,\u201d he says as we walk through Muirhevnamore \u2013 \u201cMuco\u201d to locals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s quite a big Traveller community around here as well, we were quite close. It\u2019s a very diverse area and there\u2019s a lot of character-building around here. Muco can get a bad stigma sometimes \u2013 you get the good and the bad \u2013 but, growing up in Muco, you don\u2019t look at it as a bad place.\u201d <\/p>\n

We stroll into a nearby park, complete with football pitches, a playground, a boxing gym and a new running track under construction. \u201cWhen I used to train for football, I would come in here and do laps of this place.\u201d The odd rap battle would materialise too, he says. \u201cFor some reason I was always kind of witty with the lyrics. You can see from my early days there was something there, it just had to be worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking around Muirhevnamore, most young people seem to know him. One child, no older than 10, holds his hand out for a high-five as he whizzes by on a scooter. Others, closer in age, greet Reggie like an old friend.<\/p>\n

\"OutsideOutside Clann Naofa Boxing Academy in Dundalk where Reggie trains. Photograph: Conor Capplis <\/p>\n

Along the way I catch Mac Ubezonu for a chat. He\u2019s one of Reggie\u2019s closest friends and acts as a sort of manager too. In 2024 the pair collaborated on B & M, a song that encapsulates Reggie\u2019s style before gaining celebrity status. \u201cI come with the bitches and marijuana,\u201d goes the chorus. \u201cI got them tricking like Maradona.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a Reggie that people don\u2019t see,\u201d Ubezonu says of the man he\u2019s known for more than a decade. \u201cPeople don\u2019t see the caring, the hardworking side of him. He wouldn\u2019t really call us friends \u2013 he\u2019d call us family, and he takes care of us. I document as much as I can, but people don\u2019t see the amount of hard work he puts in, and how specific he is about his craft and the image he wants to portray.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reggie is certainly specific about his image. If this afternoon is an accurate reflection of a day in his life, Reggie takes a lot of photographs. In the few hours we spend together he is quick to offer up shots for his social media, and there\u2019s a sense that he\u2019s deeply aware of his brand and keen to share his day-to-day life online.<\/p>\n

This spring Reggie released a follow-up to Fred Again\u2019s Talk of the Town. The pressure was on. El Paso (365) \u2013 a common nickname for Dundalk, as a once-fractured Border town \u2013 kicks off with a trademark confidence: \u201cTook a long time, but I knew I\u2019d be great.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reimagining of the David Keenan song of the same name that\u2019s regularly sung at Dundalk FC games. Reggie sampled the troubadour\u2019s anthem and stepped up his budget for a music video shot around Dundalk. No sign of fast cars and prop guns this time around.<\/p>\n

Since then Reggie has collaborated with Belters Only, Dublin\u2019s darlings of dance music, and last month he released Eimear, a catchy, Talk of the Town pastiche, alongside a music video that saw a return to the wads of cash and passive women of his earlier music. On Eimear, he raps, \u201cWill this one go bigger than Fred\u2019s? I don\u2019t care, I got bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of these songs is a unicorn, sure, but each is a milestone for an artist rebranding as something a little more mainstream, even as he sticks to his roots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reggie has always been a bit mad. My standout memory of him from school is as a certified…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[264],"tags":[23663,18,117,19,17,23664,337],"class_list":["post-650604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-dundalk","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-louth","tag-music"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117138854130142220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}