Rob Kelly (rapper)
| Rob Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Kelly |
| Born | 1978 (age 38–39) |
| Origin | Wexford, Ireland |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | MC, rapper, record producer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Commonwealth Records Soulspazm Records, Acquisition Records |
Rob Kelly (born 1978, Wexford, Ireland) is an Irish rapper, record producer and MC.
Kelly became interested in Hip Hop in the late 80's and early 90's through a BBC 2 show called Dance Energy that was presented by Normski and was soon an avid collector of albums and magazines like The Source and Hip-Hop Connection Several of Rob's friends and relatives excelled in sports two of them earned professional contracts. He is a massive boxing fan and is known to perform ringwalks for Oisin Fagan and Andy Lee both of whom have appeared in his videos. In 2002 while becoming frustrated at hearing some Irish rappers on radio he called in to Wes D'Arcy's "The Big Smoke" on 2FM to complain and was subsequently invited on the show and he soon became a regular fixture.
He was discovered shortly by Irish producer Mike Donnelly, who would become a longtime collaborator. As a major player in Ireland's underground hip-hop scene, Kelly has a small following in the UK, that includes British rapper Tinchy Stryder and US in 2004, he issued his first mixtape, The Kellection, mixed and helmed by DJ Pudgee P, who is known in New York for his Riot Squad street releases, shortly after that he appeared as an "Unsigned Heat" on DJ Vlad website. However, it was his second mixed tape, Bragging Rights (2006), that established his credibility as an Irish rapper. In 2008 Kelly issued the underground hit single Dropkicked, which featured Boston underground rapper Slaine, and sampled I'm Shipping Up to Boston by the Dropkick Murphys. Officially released as an MP3, the hard jam mainly enjoyed airplay within the MySpace web community, and earned the Irish MC work with more American mixtape DJs, such as DJ Bizerkk and DJ Green Lantern. He has opened up live shows, for rappers such as the Game. Nas, Dilated Peoples, Kelis, Kanye West, Raekwon, d12, Maverick Sabre
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