MCD Proudly Presents
Wiki
Friday 20th April
The Workman’s Club, Dublin
Doors: 8pm
Over 18s ID required
Tickets €17.50 inc booking fee on sale now from Ticketmaster Ireland
“The sooty atmosphere, the complex rhyme structure, the tactile combination of claustrophobia and swagger: New York rap is a religion in decline.
That makes Wiki’s devoted practice of it all the more striking. The main rapper in Ratking, he’s pure texture: His voice is raspy and nasal, and he clusters his syllables tight, as if huddling under a large coat in cold weather.”
– The New York Times
“On an island trying to peep the horizon from the highest peak in the sky and
Puerto Rico, Ireland, Manhattan chimed in by him every place i been
Give you a taste of the pace on this Island, little giant, little defiant
Really a riot spew the saliva lived with the jews man a Upper West Sider
Mixed in the stew and he tired” – Islander
In 2009 Patrick “Wiki” Morales, a Puerto Rican-Irish mutt teenager, was looking to explore beyond his born neighbourhood of the intellectually rich, culturally diverse area of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. And like every kid his age, Wiki was itching to explore the underbelly of the island – downtown Manhattan. It’s a migration that’s cultivated the 23-year-old young rapper we know today: an authentic New York City analyst who has become the voice of a generation, making Wiki one in a million.
“the ravers out
the skaters out
the haters out
the haters getting truck slapped
kids all about the paper route
if you a werido put your hands up
if you got an ego just stand up man up. cause
I know you shook shit
Sticking to the book bitch.
I don’t give a fuck bout y’all.
Cause I got my whole crew coming son
Every one of them
It’s like every night of the tunnel in one” – Pretty Bull
Out of the dark, damp basements and hot crowded galleries of downtown Manhattan, is where Ratking defied the odds and began to sprout. Through the guidance of downtown creatives Aaron Bondaroff and Ari Marcopoulos and like-minded outsiders, Wiki, Sporting Life and Hak formed Ratking soon releasing Wiki93 (2012) and So It Goes (2014). Released to rave reviews, Ratking catapulted into a world of local underground success, proving to a new generation of hip hop listeners that the rules of the past can be broken albeit with respect. Out of Ratking grew new genres of hip hop, a resurgence in DIY production and a shrewd lyricist in Wiki, whose youthful observations of Manhattan’s chaotic ecosystem were extraordinary.
“Y’all can’t check mate the kid
I got a check that say I’m lit
I gotta cash that
Turn it to a fat sack face that shit
it’s basic
I’m made for this
made for this” – Made For This
No longer under the protective shelter of adolescence, Wiki accepted his destiny and stepped out on his own. Using the lessons of his collective efforts with Ratking, Wiki took on adulthood and independence within Lil Me, his 2015 mixtape on Letter Racer. Tackling issues of life on the road, coming of age in Manhattan, first loves, bad blood, and all the emotional reckoning in between the two extremes. Bringing on board old friends – producer Alex Epton, Sporting Life, King Krule – and experimenting with some new ones too – Skepta, Kaytranada, Black Mack – Wiki stepped out and up on Lil Me turning to himself, instead of Manhattan, to be the protagonist of his first solo effort.
“Made my own nation
out imagination
imagine making everything you wanted out of patience” – Leppi Coqui
In 2015 Wiki retreated to XL Recordings downtown Manhattan studio to start work on his first, official album No Mountains In Manhattan. During the year and a half process, Wiki worked with past contributors and the team naturally around him, to focus on creating a new sound for his beloved city. To drive at the intended goal, Wiki consciously called upon three generations of New York MCs in Ghostface Killa, Your Old Droog, Slicky Boy and ACAB as the only guest verses. To correlate with the perspectives of the city, Tony Seltzer, KAYTRANADA, Sporting Life, Earl Sweatshirt, Alex Epton and others worked along with Wiki to provide a variety of sounds that speak to the chaotic atmosphere of the city itself.
“I’ve seen the seas the snow
the heat the cold
dreams untold
sometimes swear man I seen it all
the schemes unfold with these kids
reminisce playing ball with a stick “ – Stickball
No Mountains In Manhattan is Patrick “Wiki” Morales thesis on present day Manhattan. Provided by his studies of the streets of his city. Illuminated by the hyperbole of his imagination. A bibliography filled with names from the community that nurtured him. Bringing to life the sounds of his city that give pulse to the cast of characters that give Manhattan it’s soul, No Mountains In Manhattan demonstrates that Wiki is the city’s bard, telling the stories of now to be heard by generations to come.
“How you gonna say ain’t no mountains in manhattan?
When I been right on top of one macking
for the past 20 years past 23 years
took a couple years just to get passed the piers
Wik’s off the liqs pass the beer
Yo A damn Slick been off the shits the past year
“what he gonna do man?”
stuck up in the stew” – NMIM
Read the No Mountains In Manhattan Pitchfork review here.
Wiki brings his headline show to The Workman’s Club Dublin on Friday 20th April.
Tickets on sale now from Ticketmaster Ireland
Wiki:
@wikiset
facebook.com/WIKI1993
