KOJAQUE

Dublin-born polymath Kojaque returns with politically charged new single ‘That’s Gonna Be Me’, out this Thursday 12th November via the label head’s very own Soft Boy Records/Believe. Marking the first taste of new music from the acclaimed artist since this summer’s standalone single ‘Antihistamine’ and 2023’s #1 Irish Independent album PHANTOM OF THE AFTERS, the track sees Kojaque turn his attention towards the rising tide of anti-migrant sentiment and political division back home in Ireland and across the world and around the world, delivering a defiant call to action against the growing normalisation of hate and the dangers of apathy. Alongside the release, Kojaque announces his biggest headline tour to date, taking in 17 dates across the UK, Ireland and Europe in March 2027, including a landmark show at London’s KOKO on St Patrick’s Day and Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre. Tickets go on general sale Wednesday 18th November at 10am GMT / 11am CET, with pre-sale opening Monday 16th November at the same time. Full tour dates listed below.

‘That’s Gonna Be Me’ pairs Kojaque’s unmistakable lyrical sharpness with an increasingly urgent political voice. The track takes aim at the anti-immigrant violence and divisive rhetoric that have increasingly taken hold globally in recent years, questioning how easily misplaced anger is directed towards the most vulnerable rather than those in positions of power. Speaking on the track, he explains:

“There’s been a strategic amplification of ignorant and divisive voices, and I want to drown them out. I want to be just as loud as they are. Apathy feels like the path of least resistance, until one day you find yourself somewhere very bleak. That’s not how I wanna go out. I might not have all the answers, but I’ve got the right attitude.”

The accompanying self-directed video captures Kojaque’s feelings of frustration with an increasingly overwhelming society: “I feel flattened by the modern world. Everything feels grim and relentless and too much of everything all the time,” he says. “The best way I know how to respond is through art and music and writing. That’s how I feel like I can make a difference. Life is too important to let it just slip by, the future is too important and I’m not gonna just sit around until it’s too late.” Staying true to his hands-on creative approach, the video was made entirely through practical, in-camera techniques, with Kojaque creating and animating 127 individually printed frames featuring his own face on fake banknotes to achieve its stop-motion effects, rather than relying on any digital shortcuts.

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The release continues a run of boundary-pushing work from one of Ireland’s most distinctive voices, who has built a reputation for combining cinematic storytelling with biting social commentary. He first came to prominence with the genre-bending concept record Deli Daydreams, the first mixtape ever to be nominated for the Choice Music Prize, demonstrating his prowess not only as an auteur, but as a DIY label-head (co-founding Soft Boy Records, later the subject of a Boiler Room documentary) and visual director, a discipline that earned him a prestigious Royal Hibernian Academy Award for his filmmaking. Even as the rest of the world sat up and paid Irish art some long-overdue attention, Kojaque’s creative output has remained thrillingly uncompromising. Tour-de-force debut album Town’s Dead examined everything from gentrification, masculinity and mental health to a gnarly love triangle unfolding on New Year’s Eve, held together by a multi-hyphenate attitude. Once again nominated for the Choice Prize, Kojaque followed with a sold-out UK and European headline tour around restrictive local lockdowns, with the album receiving support across Radio 1, 1Xtra and 6 Music, alongside shows with Lana Del Rey and Loyle Carner (who later sampled Kojaque on hugo).

Alongside his music, Kojaque continues to expand his visual practice; his video for Kean Kavanagh’s ‘A Cowboy Song’ was recently shortlisted for a British Arrows Award, and he has since signed to production company Pulse Films as a director, further cementing his reputation as a multidisciplinary creative force. Never one to sit still creatively, ‘That’s Gonna Be Me’ finds him returning with renewed urgency, a louder sonic palette and plenty to say. Stay tuned for more coming soon.