Dundee rapper Red King on Reading Rooms and Tayside sunsets

With an audacious stage name like Red King, there’s no room for the “cultural cringe” which can creep into Scottish hip-hop.

But Tommy Dey, the red-headed Dundonian rapper behind the braggadocios moniker, insists that there’s more than bravado behind his bars.

Growing up between his mum’s house in Newport and dad’s in Broughty Ferry, former Madras College pupil Tommy found his teenage tastes displaced as indie rockers like The View dominated the local music scene in the early aughts.

“When I was like 14 or 15, I used to hang around with guys in school and we were all obsessed with 50 Cent, Eminem and all that,” recalls Tommy, 32.

“This was about the same time that indie music was huge, The View and The Kooks.

Red King hails from Tayside and lets his origins shine in his music. Image: Supplied.

“I don’t know why it never really jelled with us. But we were just the outliers and we wanted to form our own little crew.

“None of us were actually doing it musically at the time, we were just writing like diss tracks to each other, passing notes in between classes and then writing one back, slagging each other off.”

Cutting shapes and teeth at Reading Rooms

Between school days spent scribbling insulting raps, Tommy reveals that he and his school friends cut their teeth in Dundee dance institution Reading Rooms.

“We were probably in there long before we were old enough to be,” laughs Tommy, who works to support people with degenerative health conditions as well as making music.

“That was the hub, there was no other alternative music venue in Dundee. Whether you were into house, techno or drum and bass, that’s where you’d all meet.

“I don’t feel like that’s really been replaced in Dundee. Dundee seems to cater more towards guitar music than the alternative stuff.”

Red King on stage. — After cutting his teeth in Reading Rooms, Red King has gone on to play venues such as SWG3 in Glasgow. Image: Supplied.

It was the Reading Rooms’ melting pot of alternative genres which helped Tommy form his own style, which he describes as Scottish hip-hop, but with a mix of other “bouncy stuff”.

And he insists his music is not simply “New York hip hop or UK grime with a Scottish accent over it”.

No red face over accent for Dundee rapper Red King

“With Scottish hip hop, people sometimes think you’re just copying another sound and putting your own accent on it,” he explains.

“I don’t think that’s fair. I think there’s a lot of unique voices and people like me who are trying to incorporate a uniquely Scottish sound. It’s important to bring in a range of influences, which is why I don’t just do rap – I bring in some bouncy stuff too.”

However, he admits that it “can take some people a bit to get past the accent”.

“I don’t really understand it, because folk will listen to accents in rap from all over the UK, but then when it comes to hearing their own accent, they won’t give it a shot,” he explains.

Red King on stage in Marseilles, France, where he represented his home country’s style of hip hop. Image: Supplied.

“Maybe it’s cultural cringe. Scots are quite self-deprecating and there isn’t a huge amount of that in hip hop in general.

“I do it though, and other Scottish hip hop artists do it. You can be quite funny and self deprecating, it’s not all just braggy stuff – although the braggy stuff can be fun!”

New project inspired by Dundee sunsets

Since releasing his debut record For The Night last year, which the independent artist describes as “an ode to the nightlife in Glasgow”, Red King has gone from strength to strength, playing headline gigs in Dundee, Glasgow and even Marseilles, France.

“I met these French rappers when I was on holiday there last April, so they listened to my stuff and I’ve listened to theirs and we did a gig exchange,” he enthuses.

“I’m learning a bit of French so I can go out and work with them again.”

He says his highlight was a headliner at Rad Apples in Dundee.

Tommy headlined a fundraising gig for Medical Aid Palestine earlier this year. Image: Supplied.

And just this year, after turning his songwriting focus to on his hometown and mental health, he was one of four local artists recognised by Leisure and Culture Dundee’s Musicians Awards.

The awards grant up to £600 to support projects by local artists, and Tommy will be using his to fund a new project – Pastel Skies – inspired by his childhood in Tayside.

“The title is about looking back through rose tinted glasses, but also just the sunsets you get here are class – the ones on the west coast just can’t compare.”

To keep up with Red King or find out more, follow @redkingonline on Instagram.