{"title":"Soft Boy Records","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"phantom-of-the-afters","title":"Phantom of the Afters","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhantom of the Afters \u003c\/i\u003eis the 3rd album from Irish rapper Kojaque, out on his very own Soft Boy Records. With landmark projects \u003ci\u003eDeli Daydreams\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTown’s Dead\u003c\/i\u003e, that saw him 2x nominated for Choice Music Prize, receive support from Radio 1, 1xtra, 6Music, support Loyle Carner and Lana Del Rey and headline festivals across Ireland,  Kojaque changed the rap landscape (and Irish culture) for good. Collaborations on his latest project include Biig Piig, Wiki, Charlotte Dos Santos and Gotts Street Park. The album traces blurred outlines of childhood trauma, depression, grief and love, interweaving the physical and emotional journey of central character Jackie Dandelion with bigger questions about immigrant identity, homesickness, cultural stereotypes and ultimately the reconciliation of self. Kojaque has created a cinematic-universe that is bigger in scope but also more tender and intimate in approach than ever before. It’s this willingness to be vulnerable - grotesque, even - that’s captured in the album’s iconic artwork, which subverts the bigoted depictions of Irish caricatures in 19th and 20th century Punch Magazine cartoons and sees this particular Phantom of the Opera remove not just those distorted masks, but also his own. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Soft Boy Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50382741504331,"sku":"2053874","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50382741700939,"sku":"2053884","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50382741799243,"sku":"2053898","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/PHANTOM_OF_THE_AFTERS_-_COVER_IMAGE_661b6faa_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726258018"},{"product_id":"wrestling-music","title":"Wrestling Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eWrestling Music is Kean Kavanagh's most intriguing work to date, illustrating his vulnerabilities and contextualising his journey from hopelessness to vindication. Speaking on the EP, Kean explains that, “In May 2022 I suffered a vocal injury which meant that for the majority of the last year, I haven’t been able to sing or record. While I’ve been working on a lot of different music and writing a lot of songs, it has been heartbreaking and depressing at times to not be able to realise their full potential and to sing them how I hear them. On the 1st of May 2023, I wrote and recorded “The Magic” at home in Portlaoise and it helped me to embrace whatever the last year was and point me in a direction to go towards. It felt important to me and I didn’t want to just sit on it, so I gathered some instrumentals I had and worked quickly to create this EP, the Wrestling Music EP, as a timestamp of this period of my life and the loops of arrogance, introversion and acceptance that I’ve been spinning.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCo-founder, producer and A\u0026amp;R of Irish Label Soft Boy Records, Kean Kavanagh is a story-teller with a strong imagination who set out his stall as both a singer-songwriter and world creator in 2020, with the release of his acclaimed project Dog Person. In what turned out to be a big year for him, 2020 also saw Kean make an appearance on the Everything Is Recorded project FRIDAY FOREVER, (curated by Richard Russell of XL Recordings) alongside Aitch, Flohio, Maria Somerville, Ghostface Killah and others, aligning himself with a tastemaker and a hotly tipped selection of musical peers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Soft Boy Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP.","offer_id":50390026781003,"sku":"2166797","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/wrestling_music_1000x1000_79a43811_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726380130"},{"product_id":"dog-person","title":"Dog Person","description":"\u003cp\u003eDog Person is the deserved culmination of a whirlwind few years for Kean Kavanagh. His debut project, the ten-track collection prominently features his aforementioned semi-fictional, cigarette-bumming, binge-drinking, lovestruck alter-ego; a persona with just an echo of his real personality reverberating throughout the record.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKicking off this year with the delectable \u003ci\u003eRoll Over!\u003c\/i\u003e, Kean returned earlier this month with his new single \u003ci\u003eEMMA\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eA developed sound, the single delved deeper into Kean’s incredible versatility as an artist - drawing a grittier sound\u003cbr\u003eand formulating a high-octane single that wouldn’t sound out of place in a festival headline set. This all served to\u003cbr\u003eprove that Kean Kavanagh had firmly stepped into the limelight; garnering support from the likes of i-D, DIY\u003cbr\u003eMagazine, Clash, Notion and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCofounder, producer and A\u0026amp;R of Irish Label Soft Boy Records, Kean had previously pulled the strings behind the\u003cbr\u003escenes; but is now becoming one of the most exciting names on the emerging music scene. A story-teller, word-smith\u003cbr\u003eand dexterous musician with a strong imagination, Kean’s career is set to project far beyond his Irish roots.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Soft Boy","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50452628111691,"sku":"1110819","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ff059142-62bc-4f2f-b427-4ad2a9f7fcfa_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727158808"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/soft-boy-records-2.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}