KHAKIKID RELEASES NEW SINGLE ’SWITCHING TONGUES’ AND ANNOUNCES NEW EP ’SAND BEBÉ’ AHEAD OF PITCHFORK FESTIVALS THIS WINTER

LISTEN

Today, rapper and rising star KhakiKid releases brand new track and video ‘Switching Tongues’ with Carsten2x. The follow up to previous single ‘Underbite’, ‘Switching Tongues’ is shared today along with the announcement of the Dublin artist’s new EP Sand Bebé which is due August 4th. KhakiKid’s star has been rising ever since last year’s debut EP Elevator Music, which featured previous singles ‘Baby Brown’, ‘Cozy’ and ‘Shlumped Up’, now amassing over 10 million streams, playing some of the buzziest sets of the weekend at The Great Escape, and continuing himself as an undeniably fresh presence in the burgeoning Irish rap scene.

Today’s track ‘Switching Tongues’ sees Khaki (Abdu Huss) team up with fellow Dublin artist Carsten2x, leaning into the mellow hip hop that characterised Khaki’s debut EP and helped build his quickly growing fanbase. This year alone, KhakiKid has played packed out shows at The Great Escape, Sea Sessions and a sold out show at Whelan’s in Dublin. In November, he will play Pitchfork Festival’s European dates including Paris and London, the next step in KhakiKid’s incredible rise.

Speaking on today’s track, Khakikid states that “‘Switching Tongues’ is about being in a volatile relationship. Being with someone you know is gonna cause problems and things are not going to be easy but you always seem to fall back in with them.

“My favorite part of the song is the voice message I was sent by American country music legend Jake Owen. I’d been listening to him for years and one day I saw he followed me. I couldn’t believe it and I straight up asked him why he followed me and he left the voice message that’s now in the song. It’s kind of mad how far music can travel and the fact that my music has reached someone at his heights doesn’t seem real to me.”

Having not been aware of his Arab-Irish heritage or his dad’s refugee story until his adult years, Abdu is determined to cultivate a sense of belonging amongst future generations of his community in Dublin. “I’d love to be more attached to my Arab background, but it just didn’t happen in my life,” he says. “I feel like there are a lot of minority groups in Ireland that aren’t represented or spoken about, so I want to show that there are places for us to exist.” Shouldering this ambition, Abdu is ready to share “a lot of collaborations and some experimental music for sure, experimental for me anyways. I’m excited to share new music and to talk about real life and the good and bad times that come with it. I’m constantly working on my live shows too and can’t wait to show people on my Dirt Bird tour.”

After his older brother gave him 50 Cent’s ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ CD, Abdu discovered rap was the genre he related to most. Teaching himself to produce from his bedroom that he shared with his three brothers, and focusing on emotive lyrical storytelling, Abdu would record himself over beats found on YouTube. Years later his 2020 debut single ‘Late’ introduced an artist with a penchant for effortlessly mixing tongue-in-cheek, often self-deprecating lyrics with boisterous rapping. By 2021, a cult following was building at home in Ireland and his music began finding fans internationally. His debut EP, Elevator Music, arrived in September last year to critical acclaim, stay tuned for Khakikid’s most assured era to date.