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Artist
Alex Gough
12+ albums
raphip hopHip-Hopirish
about
In an industry all but built on BS, Alex Gough is a breath of a fresh air. Frank to a fault, with a winningly self-deprecating wit, the 21-year-old drummer/rapper from Waterford is the first to admit to suffering from self-doubt, laughing he says, “I never had an 'I can do this' moment. It was more a ‘Should I do this?’ moment.” Listening to his brilliantly chameleonic productions, the answer to the latter is a resounding yes. Coming up behind established talent like Rejjie Snow, Gough is helping blaze a trail for Irish hip-hop internationally. Following radio support and prominent placings in high profile playlists, he’s racked up millions of streams for his 2019 EP, ‘80%’, and earned a high profile sync on the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’. This early success is doubly impressive when you consider that Gough has had to forge his own path in the industry, having had no obvious role models or industry mentors growing up in south east Ireland. Though music was a permanent fixture at home, nobody in the family played an instrument, making Gough something of an anomaly when he picked up drums, aged six. He recalls being drawn to the instrument by a desire to replicate the rhythms of AC/DC, Green Day, The Who and the other rock bands much loved by his parents, but under the influence of his older brother Gough soon gravitated towards hip-hop. Hours were spent memorising the lyrics to Mos Def classic ‘Mathematics’, before he delved even deeper into the scene
