Straddling rock and rap with Mancunian fury
Adam Rooney a.k.a. Shotty Horroh is a rapper’s rapper with a rapid-fire grime/ rock sound.
Shotty is named after “certain things” because that’s the way it was during his Manchester council estate days.
“Shotty was my alterego name for the music and whatnot and then Horroh just because I liked it,” he says adding “shotty” is also a term for shotgun.
As a kid, Horroh inundated himself with music from the synth-pop of Oasis to the hardcore notions of late rapper Tupac.
He soon channelled his Manchester council-estate housing slice-of-life rage into battle rap.
“Battle rappin’s like pro-wrestling,” he declares, saying contestants have a month to write and prep.
“There is a guy and it is his job to find a good match between contestants who are good to do this. He sets the time limits. There are two people. It’s them in a performance dissing each other so there is no music and no beat,” he notes.
“They have their own way and style of disrespecting the opponent.
“Some people are comedic and lighthearted and some people are really brutal and digging up dirt.
“They go into the past and say your girlfriend said this, his cousin or his auntie did this.
“It’s one more chapter in my story.” The viral rap legend has now turned an indie-rock voice based in Toronto.
“There are two of me, the one in Manchester was ...” he trails off maybe referring to his hometown terrorist attack in 2017. “I am the original me that was born a human and I am here,” he proclaims.
Horroh’s sound combines the best of British punk and post-punk.
“There was just so much in the house that I was exposed to growing up — an amazing bunch of rock and roll singers,” recalls Horroh, adding his battle rapping days came later on.
“My cousins were listening to the music that I was not allowed to listen to so I started to rap and that kind of came from meself.” he says.
“My love of rap came from being a naughty kid and loving music with swear words in it and rappers swearing.
“That made me intrigued by hip hop and rap music in general. I fell in love with it and then I tried to be a really good rapper and developed my own style.
Horroh became well-known in the battle-rap world with one video garnering more than 10 million views on YouTube.
He has worked with rap royalty like Queens NYC hip-hop godfather Kool G Rap, (The Juice Crew) on single “F**ck Em All” with Manchester rapper Xpress plus veteran Detroit rapper Royce Da 5’9”
He has also worked with Canadian rapper Tory Lanez “Some More” and James Arthur as the only featured artist on the controversial Brit singer’s 2016 album “Back From The Edge.”
His latest album “Salt of the Earth” (Sony Music Canada) plays bold and brash tribute to some of punk and post-punks’s best including Fall frontman Mark E Smith on “Dirty Old Town” and “Danger”
The album is masterfully melded — hip hop versus indie rock.
There are also shades of Ian Dury, Bob Mould and John Cooper Clarke on Horroh’s comedic crime spree “Frank and Stein” and equally dark political street rant “Shudehill” based on a dodgy Manchester transit hub.
“I wanted to be like the great bands of the past and follow in their footsteps — keep that message alive. I wanted to try some stranger stuff. A couple of the tracks leaked onto the album because people liked them.”
One of Horroh’s biggest fans is Daedmau5, who found Horroh one night on YouTube, asked him to fly to Toronto.
“We cut an amazing record,” says Horrah. “From there, we built a great relationship. We are good friends. He has introduced me to a lot of cool people and put me on a platform.
“Some of the songs have been released (like “Legendary,” and “OK”) and there are more to come,” says Horroh, who is also on Deadmau5 label Mau5trap.
“We wanted to create a hybrid between hip hop and EDM. When I think about it, I guess I am a hybrid guy,” he notes. “In hindsight, I am in the kitchen and in the laboratory!”
The acclaimed Manchester singer/ songwriter worked with British director Ed Lilly for several of his early videos.
Recently, Lilly made the jump from music videos and film shorts to full-length features, taking Horroh with him.
“VS” is Lilly’s feature film debut, an acid-tongued urban drama featuring a troubled foster care teen who is thrust into the often brutal no barriers world of U.K. battle rap.
“VS” is Horroh’s feature film debut. “After Ed and I worked together, he went his way and I went my way,” says Horroh. “He has been watching me do the battle rap stuff and he had been writing this story. Apparently, he had me in mind to play bad guy (Slaughter) the whole time.
One of Slaughter’s key quotes is “no bars held.”
“It was kind of fun. I had never acted on set like that,” says Horroh, adding filming took 14 to 16 hours a day over 12 days. “I would definitely do more film.” Horroh is now on the Ontario leg of his tour with Canadian alt-rock duo USS and indie rockers The Elvins — which brings him to Elements on Devil’s Night.
His band features Horroh, on vocals with Rainer Blanchaer, rhythm guitar, Riley Chernoff, drums, Jules Lynch, bass, and Kramer White on lead guitar.
“We might dress up — either The Beatles or Slipknot,” he laughs.