A SCOTTISH police taskforce has hired a “rapper-in-residence” as part of a new project to tackle violent behaviour, with domestic abuse the first issue to be examined through the music genre more associated with misogyny and sexism.

Scottish rapper Loki – whose real name is Darren McGarvey – is taking on what is believed to be the first role of its kind in the world, working with schools, community centres, former offenders and prison inmates.

He will compose music, poetry and blogs on the issue of violence and the project could see other ventures such as “rap battles” being held in schools.

The initiative is the latest from the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), which was set up by Strathclyde Police in 2005 to tackle Glasgow's gang and knife culture. It later extended its remit across Scotland and has won praise for initiatives such as "calling in" gang members to listen to police, bereaved parents, medics and former offenders talk about the impact of violent behaviour.

McGarvey, 31, said his role had two elements to it - one was to use hip-hop and rap as a way of communicating messages to help reduce violence and the other role was being a"translator", to let people know what factors could be influencing violent behaviour.

He is currently drafting a rap about domestic abuse and said it may take the perpetrator's viewpoint, examining the circumstances that might lead up to an act of violence or it could be from the perspective of an onlooker, a family member "who is trying to tell that person don’t you see what you are becoming".

But he added: “A special kind of attention and care has to be applied to something like this. It is about getting the right balance and investigating and looking into someone who is a perpetrator of domestic violence but at no point offering any excuses or absolving anyone of causing someone else harm.”

He said men had to “challenge ourselves more” about the issue, but added it was important they did not start to “dominate the whole conversation”.

McGarvey, who is from Pollok, one of Glasgow’s most deprived areas, said: "Someone who comes from my background has a better chance of connecting."

While rap has a reputation for violence and misogyny, McGarvey insisted it is the commercialisation of rap which has given its contentious image, and that it can have a role in reducing violence – for example by originally providing a medium for New York gangs to express themselves in the late 1970s and 1980s.

“If people have a disagreement or confrontation or they want to be a wee bit macho, they do it in a rap battle or b-boy or b-girl (breakdancing) battle. That is one aspect of hip-hop which is overlooked,” he said.

“When the title of rapper-in-residence was suggested to me, I initially backed away from it as I know the perception of rap which is out there.

“But then I thought let me just embrace this and show them what it can be about – let them see it is not all guns and b*****s and all of that stuff.”

McGarvey, who recently headlined the Scottish Album of the Year awards with his band Loki and The Kartel, will take on the role for six months. The initial cost of the project is under £2,500.

Karyn McCluskey, director of the VRU, said while there had been success in reducing violent crime in Scotland, “inventiveness and innovation” was needed to make further progress.

“There are certain areas out there where there are skewed attitudes towards girls and women, and about violence and going to jail and the police, which have not changed much,” she said.

"We need to think of a different way of tackling that.”

She said McGarvey could speak to the target audience for messages on reducing violence in a “language they understood.”

She added: “I genuinely don’t know how this role will work out. But sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.

“I don’t have the terror of error and I think sometimes you just have to take a chance.”

A spokeswoman for Scottish Women's Aid said: "We hope that this project will work to challenge the misguided beliefs of men who continue to perpetrate unacceptable crimes against women, including sexual assaults, physical violence and controlling behaviour.

"Our research shows that domestic abuse has its root cause in the inequality that still exists between men and women, and any response to tackle these crimes must include the promotion of women's equality and rights."