BLESS Steps Into the Spotlight with ‘Vice City’ — A Debut Drenched in Drama, Drive & Defiance

BLESS 

Unveils ‘Vice City’: A Cinematic, Soul-Baring Debut Born From Sacrifice, Strategy & Self-Belief

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

ASSETS HERE

Nigeria-Irish artist Bless is rewriting the rules of Ireland’s independent music scene with the release of his genre-blurring debut album, Vice City which debuted at Top 10 on the Official Irish Charts, only the 4th Irish Hip Hop album in history to do so— a conceptual project drenched in 1980s neo-noir, personal vices, and the restless ambition of a young creative refusing to fold.

What began in 2019 as a side hustle while climbing the corporate ladder became a full-throttle pursuit of purpose. In 2024, following a mastermind session with Rob Lipsett, Bless made the life-altering decision to leave his job, move back home, and dedicate himself to music full-time. Armed with a grant from the Dublin Fringe Festival and a vision too big to ignore, he went all in. No safety nets. No plan B.

Fast forward to Vice City — an era-defining body of work blending stylised storytelling, PTA-inspired aesthetics, and the emotional terrain of modern-day vices: fractured relationships, ambition, escapism, and the pursuit of legacy. Each track is a scene. Each verse, a confessional. This isn’t just an album. It’s a universe.

But Vice City is more than a project — it’s a creative collective and cultural movement. Born out of Blessed’s desire to leave a permanent stamp on the Irish music landscape, Vice City functions as both a sound and a statement. It’s a nod to nostalgia, yes — the slick gangster films and retro visuals of the 1980s — but also a raw reflection of the internal battles young artists face today. From broken love to self-sabotage, the themes of Vice City are lived-in and deeply human.

“Vice City is my story, but it’s also a mirror — for anyone trying to make sense of their chaos, their craving, their come-up,” Bless shares.

From cold calls to college campus flyers, the road to Vice City was far from conventional. A meticulously executed grassroots campaign saw the artist and his team building community via group chats, university outreach, and digital pushes encouraging fans to pre-order and download the album. Despite challenges with iTunes’ unpredictable charting metrics, Vice City hit #1 on iTunes on its release day — before slipping to #2 the next morning.

But even then, the mission didn’t stop.

Instead, it levelled up.

The team secured a space in central Dublin for a week, reactivating their boots-on-the-ground strategy, targeting students and nightlife spaces with physical flyers and real-time conversations. Redemption issues around pre-orders sparked confusion and frustration, but ultimately resulted in vast amount of first-week units sold — a powerful feat for an independent release. The numbers spoke. The streets listened.

The final twist? Vice City climbed to #1 on the Irish Independent Charts and the #7 on the Official Album Charts, earning Bless his first plaque from IMRO. A press release followed. So did an outpouring of support from the music industry, new collaborators, and — perhaps most symbolically — his Nigerian parents, once skeptical, now proud.

“I brought that plaque home. To them. That was the real win,” he says.

Following the debut project, Bless headlined The Sound House on the 11th of April and is now hoping to grow a digital footprint, and his eyes are set on film, collaboration, and culture-shifting releases. Bless isn’t just breaking through — he’s carving out his own lane. Vice City is the origin story, but the vision stretches far beyond. This is the rise of a new voice in Irish music — self-made, unfiltered, and impossible to ignore.

 

 Follow Bless:

Spotify | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

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