article
0093 added
08.06.05 words Jeremy Swann
technical:
QED
"Australia
and hip-hop definitely don’t go together. You know what I mean… Akubra
hats and fuckin yee-ha. Croc hunting, Mick Dundee, all that shit, the
deserts, the outback, definitely don’t go with hip-hop. Barbecues and
hip-hop, eating squid upon skewers whilst fishing in a dam. That
definitely doesn’t go with hip-hop.” - Brad Strut.
(Australiana basically means all the clichés associated with Australia.
Just like when foreigners think of England they think of the queen and
cups of tea and suchlike; things that you wouldn’t generally attribute
to the hip-hop scene.)
I guess some form of curiosity made you open this page. And, if you were
thinking Australian hip-hop was about the things mentioned in the first
passage, I hope you have changed your mind!
I think it’s important to recognise other hip-hop scenes from around the
world. And while hip-hop heads in Australia check for British hip-hop,
my impression is that few British heads check for Aussie shit. Now, I
don’t know if that’s purely because you can’t get it in the UK or what.
My impression is that some of it is available in stores in London. I
hope to raise your awareness of the vibe over here. But firstly, just to
let you all know, I’m originally English, (Been in oz 4 years) so I know
a bit about the scene in the UK as well.
Aussie hip-hop is like Brussels sprouts - an acquired taste. I was most
definitely an avid hip-hop fan when I stole that loaf of bread and was
banished to this arid continent. But my first Aussie hip-hop experience,
I must admit, was not a great one. I vaguely remember some dude spitting
about “hip-hop from your local fish ‘n’ chip shop”. Now put on your best
Neighbours accent and recite that to the closest person and if you don’t
get laughed at I’ll be surprised. After this unfortunate run-in, any
interest I might have had was totally killed.
However, time progressed, and as I got a bit more accustomed to my
surroundings, the scene started to grow on me, and the rest of the
country. The main reason it grew on me I think was the fact that I like
to go out at weekends, and I hate techno (there isn’t too much choice
over here!). So I was faced with a dilemma, either I go out to a
‘hip-hop’ night and grin and bare it, or I stay home and mope. The
answer, of course, is plain and simple. From here on my interest was
sparked. Another thing was seeing the graffiti when I was catching the
train. I knew that the scene couldn’t be too wack with graff like that.
It seems to me that two things influence Australian hip-hop in
particular. The laid back attitude of the people and the sun. One thing
that really sets it apart from the scene in the UK is that there are 5
main cities all generating roughly the same amount of hip-hop, and each
with their own individual style. These five cities are Perth, Adelaide,
Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
"...my impression is that few British heads check for Aussie shit..."
The main crew in Perth is Downsyde, and those guys get a lot of sun.
Their music has a happy and nonchalant vibe, but often with political
and social meaning. I guess it is very reggae/dub influenced. Many
people say Perth has the best beaches in Australia, so it stands to
reason. Perth is also the most isolated city in the world, and this
comes out through the originality of its music.
Adelaide’s contribution has been very significant recently with the huge
success of a group called the Hilltop Hoods. Adelaide, bordering desert,
is Australia’s driest capital city, so it’s fair enough that alcohol is
often an influence throughout the music.
Melbourne is where I live. The second largest city in Australia is seen
as the capital city for hip-hop (I’m not being biased). Once again, the
Melbourne scene is completely different to the others – the music is
darker and colder, just like the climate. Melbourne is the home of Obese
Records, Australia’s biggest independent hip-hop label.
Sydney, Australia’s largest city, has a growing hip-hop scene, which in
terms of quality is definitely catching up to Adelaide and Melbourne. It
has seen some great releases recently from artists such as Hyjak &
Torcha and Bliss & Eso (both released through Obese). Most people accept
that the reason Sydney’s hip-hop scene isn’t as big as Melbourne’s is
because Melbournians are much more open culturally. Melbourne is seen as
Australia’s cultural capital, while Sydney is the tourist capital, with
few small nightspots where up-and-comers can get exposure. Things seem
to be changing with the growing popularity of homegrown hip-hop.
Brisbane, with its subtropical climate seems to produce a laid back,
lazy bunch of people, indeed, one of their biggest artists is a man who
goes by the pseudonym Lazy Grey. The main theme throughout Brisbane’s
hip-hop seems to be the good ol’ Aussie lifestyle, e.g. barbies, beer
and beaches.
For the geographers reading this, yes, I forgot Australia’s capital,
Canberra. Only one good thing comes out of Canberra, a city of
politicians and roundabouts (two things I hate), and that good thing is
Koolism. Check out a snippet of them on the Lowlife sounds archive (www.lowliferecords.co.uk).
The other elements are extremely strong throughout all the cities, with
Australia producing world class DJ’s, b-boys and graffiti artists.
In my opinion, the Australian scene stands apart from that of the UK in
a few ways, not to mention obvious things like the accent. The cities
and the distance between them play a huge role; so like I delved into
extensively before, artists here are releasing product almost evenly
throughout the major cities, whereas in the England, London is by far
the major generator and consumer of UK hip-hop. Another related factor
is the youth. In Australia it is much more ‘cool’, if you will, to
support local underground artists, so in turn most kids over here in
their late teens will have at least a few local hip-hop albums in their
collection. From my experience, this doesn’t seem to be the case in the
UK, especially outside of London.
"...the Australian hip-hop scene is still in its infancy, but it is
definitely a healthy baby..."
As you might have already pictured, sometimes cats here will hail an
album purely because it is ‘underground’ or from their local area, and
not on the quality. This is where the scene starts getting shitty, in my
opinion. Another hugely shitty factor is the politics. As is the way
with hip-hop, braggadocio and battle style rhymes play a huge part in
rapping. But when emcees spit these rhymes, that are like always, aimed
at other emcees, questions start forming like ‘who is that supposed to
be directed at?’ With so few artists that are so closely interwoven,
when someone brings the heat and another artist finds something in it
offensive, sparks fly. Unfortunately, from my experience, rarely
verbally or physically, but on more of a bitchy, political level. In a
way this is because the scene is still considered by many as some sort
of community, personally I think that that factor is restricting the
progress we could, and should be making over here. Because sometimes
artists are overly aware of the sense of community and outside pressure
that influences prevent them from doing their own thing.
The whole accent debate is something that has been around since the
scene began, and most people are sick to death of it. I was recently
chatting to Melbourne veteran DJ Ransom about it and he told me that the
whole thing was killed really when the London Posse brought out their
first album. With that people realised that you didn’t need to rap in an
American accent to be accepted. That said, there are still one or two
exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, artists who are not
“selling out” are generally accepted for their American accents if the
music itself is good.
Recently, Australia’s major music television station, Channel V, have
staged a reality series called Aussie Friggin’ Hip-Hop, which is
basically a Pop-Idol like search for the ‘best’ unsigned Australian
emcee. The winner, Anecdote, has gone to LA to record a single with
Kutmasta Kurt. The series has gone down quite well with true hip-hop
heads, the main reason, I think, is because many respected members of
the scene here were called in to judge the event. Hence it has been
successful in luring r’n’b and other fans into the world of local
hip-hop.
All in all, the Australian hip-hop scene is still in its infancy, but it
is definitely a healthy baby, which continues to grow rapidly, seemingly
unhindered by the country’s isolation and international image as a
country full of crocodile hunters and sheep-farmers.
-
Jeremy Swann
If you want to
get fully immersed check these sites:
Aussie
hip-hop
is like Brussels sprouts…