Apples & Snakes, England's leading poetry organisation established in 1982 commemorate the evolution of poetry to lyricism and RAP by celebrating hip-hop as a cross strand of performance poetry in its own right. Apples & Snakes’ provide a platform for poetry that is popular, relevant, cross-cultural and accessible and stretch the boundaries of poetry in education and performance.
I read somewhere that ‘malarchi’ means ‘blossoming’ in Tamil; and it’s fair to say that the East London emcee who uses the word as his moniker is also one of UK hip hop’s burgeoning talents. His debut album ‘Forgotten World’ was released with considerable fanfare back in May, so I recently caught up with him at the Darkjoint recording studio in Canning Town (where most of the album’s tracks were conceived) to find out what he is trying to achieve with his LP.
In an age when hip hop producers can gain as much of a celebrity status as the top emcees in the scene, Roy 'The Dark Disciple' is determined to establish himself as one of the UK's finest beat makers. Born and raised in South London, but now residing in Canning Town, East London, Roy is the lead member of the Darkjoint production team and is responsible for crafting all of the beats on Malarchi's thunderous 'Forgotten World' LP.