The Emerald Isle of Ireland keeps amazing me with its concentration of hip-hop talent. The latest is Pat Lagoon, who just a minute ago dropped a new single, called “Reason.”
Born in Nigeria, Lagoon has resided in Ireland for most of his life, first in a little town called Tramore. Currently based in an old city in southeastern Ireland, Waterford, Lagoon began making music in 2016, utilizing primarily SoundCloud to get his bangers out to the world at large. Some of his tracks appeared on promotional channels on YouTube, like NastyTricks. Initially, Lagoon used his bedroom as a studio, and then moved to another bedroom studio put together by Swayde, another Irish rapper.
Lagoon’s sound is hard to categorize, since he has the ability to traverse the hip-hop spectrum, ranging from slow, deep, chill vibes to muscular trap to boom bap.
“Reason” opens with wavering synths surfacing to filtered vocal effects and then flowing into a slab tune: slow, low, and banging. A thumping kick-drum imbues the tune with Jovian rhythm, as Lagoon’s velvety voice flows with stylish tones, traveling from creamy melodicism to compact rapping. I love the laid-back effortless flow and suave timbres of Lagoon’s voice.
The opaque aromas emanating from the synths infuse the music with hints of risky colors, adding gorgeous tension and tantalizing wisps of easy intimacy.
Crème de la crème rhymes and smart wordplay assert the push of the lyrics, along with brilliant allusions and turns of phrase.
“Reppin my city the money team / Pep Guardiola the music scene / Passing the ball like / I’m passing the mic.”
“Reason” is superb hip-hop, contriving a resonant harmonic mood and burnished textures atop a low-slung melody pervaded by measured deep rolling colors. Pat Lagoon knows how to deliver the heat and get listeners undulating to the music’s pressure. Keep an eye on Pat Lagoon!
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