Lurgan<\/a> is a place full of little idiosyncrasies and colloquialisms from \u201che has a face like a Lurgan spade\u201d and \u201csupping the Lurgan champagne\u201d to the lesser known \u201cshams\u201d\u2026 who arguably enjoy a drop of that aforementioned champagne of a Saturday night!<\/p>\nThey\u2019re certainly quirky, but hardly poetic.<\/p>\n
But one local man with a penchant for rap music has found a way to work them into lyrics\u2026 that satirically dance the line between serious hip-hop and tongue-in-cheek comedy.<\/p>\n
Known simply by his stage name, Jack Bashful, the 29-year-old was raised in the former linen-making hub despite being born in England.<\/p>\n
He admits, he was only ever interested in music an \u201caverage amount\u201d until he watched a documentary entitled \u2018The Art of Rap\u2019 by American rapper, Ice-T. Something about the \u201ccreative side and discipline of writing lyrics just appealed to me\u201d, said Jack.<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cI was always into reading and words and things like that so I wanted to give it a go myself and since then I have just kept doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack first released music of his own making aged 21, recording instrumental and beats on software he received for Christmas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I knew I started wanting to do it more seriously I got in contact with a guy called D Darryl Forsythe, who\u2019s involved with a local radio station that\u2019s more catered towards hip-hop,\u201d said Jack. \u201cI went to his studio and recorded a couple of songs there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those early songs, he says, were more \u201camateur\u201d, adding bashfully \u201cnot that what I\u2019m doing now isn\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n
But showing a clear development and maturity gained in those eight years, he continues: \u201cIt\u2019s taken me all this time to find my voice as an artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of the last few years I have just been trying to mimic other artists\u2026 American and English rappers and producers, and you think you should make what people want you to make rather than what I want to make.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of resisting making things that were too localised or colloquial because it\u2019s too niche and you think \u2018I\u2019ll never be able to sell that\u2019, but at the end of the day the most important thing for me is having that creative outlet and making it fun for me. I\u2019m not too worried about winning Grammys!\u201d<\/p>\n
Trying to gauge his listeners\u2019 responses has shaped his work\u2026 or at least the release of that work.<\/p>\n
While he admits that his most recent work focusing on Lurgan town \u201cdoesn\u2019t take itself too seriously\u201d, Jack has hidden depths that few have seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cAround last year, I was making music that was very personal and it was a bit bleak in certain ways because I was talking about relationships that I had and mental health struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am proud of the songs I made but I never released them because they were too personal and I was worried that my friends and family might hear it as a cry for help. But it never was\u2026 it was just a catharsis.\u201d<\/p>\n
After taking a hiatus from life in Northern Ireland, Jack returned to Lurgan in the Summer. It was then that he decided to make a U-turn on that former cathartic self-expression to a new, lighter note.<\/p>\n
Of his Lurgan-centric songs, he explained: \u201cIt\u2019s the complete opposite of what I had been doing before, which might have made people uncomfortable. I would take myself too seriously in the past but now I can zoom out a bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m talking about very niche things in Lurgan but it\u2019s not entirely unique. People from other towns and places in Northern Ireland might still be able to get something out of it. A lot of the music that I love is hyperlocal, whether it\u2019s grime and they are talking about a small part of North London or America, in the Bronx. We don\u2019t live similar lives to people from those places but at the end of the day you can still relate in some aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked to describe Lurgan as a place, Jack said: \u201cI think I would be expected to say Lurgan is amazing and I do love it but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s particularly special or unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to focus on the wee idiosyncrasies about Lurgan and record them and try to do something creative with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cLurgan does get in my experience a bad rep. It can be fair obviously because some things that have happened are negatives. But, I can\u2019t think of a place in Ireland that is known particularly for a positive thing. That\u2019s just part of the banter of being from Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not one to miss the obvious, several of Jack\u2019s songs focus on the mock \u201crivalry\u201d between Lurgan and the neighbouring town of Portadown.<\/p>\n
Drawing a comical comparison between warring fictional towns from the hit TV Series, The Simpsons, Jack adds: \u201cYou have Springfield and Shelbyville and Portadown to me, is Shelbyville! I don\u2019t really feel that animosity to people from there, it\u2019s the joke and it\u2019s just a bit of banter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking about the slang term \u201cshams\u201d used in one of his songs, Jack explains the word is interchangeable with the more widely known \u201csmicks\u201d \u2013 a moderately derogatory name often given to a younger person who exhibits loutish behaviour.<\/p>\n
Like shams, Jack says he often writes down some of the colloquial terms he hears out and about for use in his lyrics. He has most recently added \u201ctight\u201d, meaning a bit controversial, \u201ctwisty\u201d, likely to start a fight and \u201cclampits\u201d, people who are a little bit silly!<\/p>\n
Putting yourself out there is never easy and the satirical nature of Jack\u2019s song-writing can, at times, attract harsh criticism.<\/p>\n
He adds: \u201cYou do get people coming on and not being positive especially with anonymous accounts\u2026 it\u2019s quite jarring because you have poured your heart out and I know what I\u2019m doing isn\u2019t overly serious so if people don\u2019t like it it\u2019s not the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shrugging off a negative comment that he now sees the humour in, he continued: \u201cOne person came on and commented something like, \u2018I want this played at my funeral so that everyone is jealous of me being dead!\u2019 At first you are sort of sent into a spiral but it\u2019s almost like the more it happens the less of an effect it has on you and you develop a thick skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has now written somewhere between 30 and 40 songs about Lurgan. Naturally, he says, it\u2019s all becoming \u201creally niche\u201d and aware that he runs the risk of becoming \u201cclich\u00e9\u201d, he\u2019s actively thinking about what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I will keep doing this for the next period and then maybe branch out a bit,\u201d said Jack. \u201cI would like to release the more personal songs that are a bit more serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I get some kind of following where people are connecting with me then that\u2019s when I can release that more serious stuff. It\u2019s almost like a bridge to what I really want to make, the Lurgan stuff is like that stepping stone.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Jack-Bashful.jpg\")
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