Beyond Noise Team
London-based, Iraqi rap artist and creative psi.ko continues to push social and political boundaries across her latest striking record “C.H.A.V”.
Following on from her standout 2022 release “To Me, From Me”, the rising talent is steadily creating a blueprint for her sound – intricate wordplay and passionate integrity calling out political and societal issues has helped build a significant reputation in a short amount of time as an important new voice of a new generation of British youth culture. Her sleek, intellectual approach continues to shine across “C.H.A.V” – replacing the stigma of what it’s like to be poor in the UK today.
“C.H.A.V” is a play on psi.ko’s outrage when a lecturer at university referred to students as “chavs”. Seeking to break the demonising lower/working class “Council Housed and Violent” narrative and re-arrange it to “Council Housed and Vibrant”, psi.ko lays potent, whip-smart bars over video-shot footage of the council estates and flats across London. The humanising aspect the video brings to the buildings – also highlighting the void of architectural imagination and social integration – again underlines the level of artistry and depth that psi.ko delivers, continuing to define herself as a thrillingly unique prospect.
Speaking on the track, psi.ko states: “The song is about the demonisation of the working class, questioning the established ‘aesthetic’ of chav imagery, behaviour, etc. the racialisation of chavs as Romani, or white English – specifically youth, of low/working class socio-economic grouping whilst the term “roadman/men” is heavily racially aestheticised and linked to black youth despite both groups being demonised for the same thing – being poor. The song is also a reclamation of the word chav and its false etymology: “Council Housed and Violent.”
A true product of diaspora, the Paris-born, Iraqi psi.ko balances her mixed heritage of both East and West with a common sense and flair honed in North London. Keeping her anonymity by not showing her eyes, her key focus stays true to the creation of art, rather than the cult of personality. The classic rap pillars of deep lyricism, character and poise on the mic however, are on full display.
With sift critical support coming across the likes of THE INDEPENDENT, WONDERLAND, CLASH and NOTION, psi.ko continues to push boundaries and highlight the realities of her world. A flair for political statement and a natural ear for hip-hop marks the young prospect as a significant and gripping new voice in the alternative rap landscape.
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