Hull Daily Mail

The Hull rapper set to release Squid Games-inspired music

FINE ART RASCAL RECORDS NEW SONGS

- By HARRY INGHAM harry.ingham@reachplc.com @byharrying­ham

HULL rapper The Fine Art Rascal is set to release his new album, “Rascal (Demos/lofi god)”’ on Friday.

The artist has been rapping for more than ten years and has been featured in live shows such as Rough Trade and Masked Gorilla.

Self-proclaimed as “Hull’s greatest rapper”, The Fine Art Rascal (who prefers to remain anonymous) builds his music around lo-fi beats and raps about everything from existentia­lism to Squid Game.

His new album includes a track titled “No Time For Squids”, was inspired by the Korean Netflix phenomenon that was watched by millions of people last year.

Speaking to the Mail about his roots in the city, The Fine Art Rascal said: “I grew up in Hull and the surroundin­g areas. I did a lot of growing up in Welly Club.

“Hull is forgotten, matter of fact, gritty, historic, beautiful and doesn’t take itself too seriously. All of this influenced me as an artist.

“Also, rap is the new poetry, and we have Larkin.

“I think art is able to overcome the pessimist vision of life, through its beautifyin­g of that pessimist message itself, which Larkin did. I try to do that a bit in rap, too. That’s what art is for.”

Speaking about his new release, he said: “It’s kinda self-titled being named ‘Rascal’ after ‘The Fine Art Rascal,’ so it feels like a checkpoint of some kind. It feels like when I’m done learning to make and just making.

“The future will be promoting this album as far as possible, then we’ll see what happens.

“This past couple years has shown no one can predict the future, and maybe I’m a fatalist, and maybe we can’t change the future anyway, so I’m always trying to relax into it, I don’t know.”

As well as his music, The Fine Art Rascal is also a painter, having had a painting featured in the Ferens Art Gallery.

His new album will be released on Friday, January 7.

 ?? ?? Squid Games was one of the TV hits of the year in 2021
Squid Games was one of the TV hits of the year in 2021

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