Antony Szmierek – The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Fallacy

7th August 2022 · 2020s, 2022, Hip-Hop, Music

Antony Szmierek comes from Manchester: he’s a rapper with a relaxed, conversational delivery and an emotional flow. Unlike a lot of spoken word music – and there’s loads around now – this one makes me want to listen again and again.

Antony, whose surname is pronounced “Shmerrick”, has released several other tunes – Ventolin should resonate with asthma sufferers – and an album, but he’s new to me.

His subject matter draws heavily on his working class background in Manchester, most notably on a track called Working Classic (with female singer Yemi Bolatiwa).

The musical backing he uses is wide-ranging. He performs live with an indie-style band, but also uses records with garage backing tracks – and his album ends with an epic eight-minute drum & bass excursion.

Szmierek, who is in his early 30s, started out writing short stories, then novels and poems, but turned to performance because he loved music and the buzz of audience feedback.

Or, as he puts it, “I wanted to be half Alex Turner and half Dr Dre.”