'The country needs better services for autistic people': Cork rapper Craic Boi Mental
Craic Boi Mental: "I just wanted to talk about my own experience."
Over the past six years, West Cork rapper Craic Boi Mental has occupied his own niche in the Irish hip-hop scene. Emerging online in 2015 with a gift for lo-fi production and earworm choruses, the wordsmith’s surreal style won him a place in the hearts of the burgeoning Irish scene.
In recent times, he’s brought a heavier side to his game - being open with his mental health struggles, and living as a neurodivergent artist after an adult diagnosis. While previous album Craic Magic saw him touch on the subject, upcoming release Autistic Legend addresses it outright - right down to a Ronseal album title.
“I just wanted to talk about my own experience - not just, ‘oh, this is what life is for autistic people’ - I just talk about my experience, and neurodivergent people can relate to it in a way that maybe people who don’t have those issues mightn’t,” says the 25-year-old, originally from Turners Cross and now based in Schull.
“The way I look at it is, I rap, and it’s been on my mind, and in a scene where your growth can depend on how well you connect with people, that can be harder for some of us, which is why I’m being more open with it.”
The rapper has been vocal about the healthcare system in Ireland not being up to scratch in terms of neurodivergence, with things like late diagnosis and a lack of services, etc. being targets of his online criticism.
“I think it starts with schools. When I was 18, I was diagnosed with dyspraxia, I think, half of autistic people have. In general, the country needs better services for autistic people, and proper diagnosis from an early age, because if you’re not diagnosed early… when people talk about autism, they talk about kids, what about the kids that grew up undiagnosed, and still went through the trauma of it in school, without any help?”
For the seriousness that Craic Boi hints at in recent times, new single ‘Da Ruler of Ireland’ maintains the idiosyncratic humour he is known for, in this case threatening to usurp and merge the offices of Taoiseach and President in response to recent national events.
“I’m always trying to evolve. In the past, my stuff was humorous, and now I want to be humorous in a more mature way… just trying to evolve, be taken a lot more seriously. Irish hip-hop wants to be a bit more mature, people are sick of the gimmicks, and as an artist, I’ve to evolve with the scene.”
The Covid crisis will make a different place of the arts scene in general, much less music in Ireland, and everyone faces a job of trying to build back better, individually and collectively. Craic Boi’s vision of a post-pandemic arts community places faith in the next generation.
“I’d touch on issues of gender equality, rural Ireland, neurodivergence… and the younger generation coming through and running things. I know there’s certain people in Irish music that have been running things for years, and you can't hate on 'em because they built up their things themselves, but I want to see the youth grab the scene by the balls.”
- Autistic Legend releases across digital platforms on May 9
