J-Zone to tour in April.

In what’s shaping up to be a great year for international shows, the Bo$$ Hog Barbarian himself hits these shores in April. Backed on the decks by DJ Sheep (ex-Brisbane, most recently Taipei Ministry of Sound hip hop resident), J-Zone will performing pimpin’ favourites from his catalogue then digging in the gangsta crates (also with Sheep) to bring you what will surely be the most ig’nant DJ set of the year.

Saturday 21 April is confirmed for the Gaelic in Sydney. Melbourne and Adelaide dates to follow.

J-Zone website
DJ Sheep website

Ozhiphop.com awards open for nominations

Nominations for the 2006 Ozhiphop.com awards are in full swing. Each user on the site’s heavily-trafficked forums has one nomination in each of the 37 categories, which range from Best Album to Best Radio Show to Best Verse to Best Club DJ and so on and so on. Once a candidate is nominated three times, it becomes a nominee and can be voted for once that process commences on Wednesday 24 January. The exact mechanism for voting has yet to be announced, but it may be via email submission.

Because the awards are entirely community nominated and voted, some of the outcomes might have that artist-with-the-most-friends-wins flavour. That’s why it’s important to get your post on here and vote when the time comes around.

Vote early and vote often!

It’s official: Supa to tour Oz

Promoter Rapscellieon has confirmed today that North Carolina emcee Supastition will indeed be visiting our fair shores in March. Remember who told you first!

Shows are confirmed for Melbourne’s East Brunswick Club on Friday, 9th March and Sydney’s Bar Broadway on Saturday, 10th March, with Supa collaborator M-Phazes and his crew Trace Elements to provide support at both shows. Melbourne artist Boltz will also be gracing the stage at the East Brunswick Club date.

Tickets are expected to go on sale in late January… stay tuned for further details.

Rapscellieon MySpace

Chamillionaire ridin’ dirty with Styalz

There must be something in the water in Melbourne high school drinking fountains. First barely-pubescent beatsmith Lewis One gets a beat on the new GZA/Muggs remix album, and now jailbait producer Styalz Fuego has landed a track with Houston rap god Chamillionaire, no less.

Their collaborative effort, entitled ‘Not A Criminal’, features Cham declaring his innocence (‘Ridin’ Dirty’ anyone?) and his business acumen over a sparse-but-effective club banger. And who else should appear on the hook but Esco’s wifey (and one of my personal favourites) Kelis? Not bad for a dude barely out of his playclothes.

For those who came in late, Styalz featured heavily on former 1200 Techniques frontman N’fa’s debut album ‘Cause An Effect’ (released by Inertia Recordings in 2006) and has created beats for local artists including former Scribble Jam champ Justice, controversial duo Weapon X & Ken Hell and up-and-comer Boltz. He is loosely affiliated with Melbourne’s Battletown clique, who released a few heavily-Americanised albums back in the late ’90s but have since faded from popular vision. Regardless, it’s a mighty effort and will probably propel him into US mainstream rap’s consciousness. Congrats.

 You can hear the track here.

 Styalz Fuego MySpace

Brad Strut album update from Unkut

The Unkut website drops a few details about the upcoming Brad Strut album Legend: Official. While rumours have been circulating for a minute, we now see some confirmation on the guest list:

Fresh off the back of his U.K /Euro tour/shows Strut hits home this month to lend a hand to the finishing touches on his highly anticipated LEGEND: OFFICIAL L.P… Release date and official track listing etc along with P.R will be up here shortly. The release is shaping to be a monster and features guest shots from his L.C Co-D’s Trem and Balans, Sean P (Bootcamp), Outerspace (AOTP), Dan Merriweather & Lee Sissing with producto handled by Trem, Prowla and Asip.

Damn impressive to see serious US names like 2005 indie rap artist of the year Sean Price and Army of the Pharoahes affiliates Outerspace on there, but are the rawest crew in Aussie hip-hop getting a little jiggy with it? The presence of soul vocalists Sissing and Merriweather certainly suggest a new tact being taken that will set this album apart from Brad’s The Authentic (Obese, 2001) and the more recent Lyrical Commission material. Last year’s Legendary mixtape ensconced Strut in the upper echelon of Aussie spitters, if his solo joints on The Stage Is Set and Murderous Metaphors hadn’t already cemented him a spot. If Legend: Official branches out while staying true to his grimy style, it could well earn Strut the number one position for 2007.

Brad Strut on MySpace
Dan Merriweather on MySpace
Lee Sissing on MySpace

Obese trades CDs for votes

Let me get my Ralph Wiggum on for a second and freeze-frame the exact moment the Hilltop Hoods graduated from underground phenomenon to certified mainstream commodity: it had to be their unexpected ninth placing in Triple J’s Hottest 100 for 2003 with the skip-hop-meets-chipmunk-soul classic ‘The Nosebleed Section’. (For the trainspotters out there, the equally dope but slightly less catchy ‘Dumb Enough’ also fared well at number 44, as the meat in a Strokes/Perfect Circle sandwich.) From there on in, it was all champagne and caviar for the boys from Blackwood.

 It’s therefore no surprise that the Hoods’ parent label, Obese, are keen to maintain their standing in the national broadcaster’s influential countdown. To this end, they are offering fans who vote for at least three Obese-affiliated tracks in this year’s Hottest 100 the chance to win a CD prize pack – including a signed advance copy of local rap legend Bias B’s new disc Been There Done That, no less. One winner will be chosen from each state. To enter the draw, peep the news section on the Obese homepage.

 My vote for best Obese track of the year? It’s probably the Jase-Trace Elements collaboration ‘Runnin’ This Sh*t’, which was criminally left off the Melbourne beatsmith’s Jase Connection Volume 1 CD. However, you can peep this classic funk throwdown (featuring a rare verse from super-producer M-Phazes) on Trace Elements’ recently released Elevator Muzak mixtape, which is available for download here.

Shawn Lov mixtape.

AUS-International connections are becoming more and more common, but the Nuff Said crew have always led the pack, from Prowla and Jase’s production of 7L & Esoteric’s Protocol to their releases by artists from the US (Karma), South Africa (Tumi) and the UK (The Planets). Shawn Lov’s 2004 album The Blackout of 1977 may have been the first full album by a US rapper released on an Australian label, and now Shawn and Nuffsaid are prepping the follow up, Waiting For A Ghost, which features several beats and a verse from Prowla, as well as shots from Pace Won (Outsidaz) and Lin Que (Isis from X Clan). A small mixed teaser is streaming on Nuffsaid’s Myspace. Even better is a full length mixtape retrospective of Shawn’s work from the past ten years, available for download at the same place. Those interested in no-nonsense lyrical ability should grab this immediately.

Don’t let it be said that Shawn is inaccessible to his fans, either. On his MySpace, he invites XBox Live players to get down with him in some Gears of War or Contra.

Shawn Lov on Myspace

Premium Blend blog back in effect.

The blog spin-off of Adelaide’s long running and always dope Premium Blend radio show has kicked back to life recently with classic videos, insightful comment and downloadable radio shows. Well worth checking.

Triple J adds 10.01.07; Hottest 100 Voting

The first round of rotation for 2007 saw one hip hop track: Braintax’s Anti-Grey (featuring Dubbledge) added to light rotation, continuing a good run for UK rap on the Js – Mystro and Yungun both got play late last year.

Voting in Triple J’s annual Hottest 100 poll, the results of which are broadcast on Australia Day, has begun. Plenty of Aussie material on the poll, and the the voting list gives a good overview of what sort of rap is getting played on national radio. After the jump, a full list of international and local songs listed for voting this year.

Vote in Triple J’s Hottest 100.

New Stealth Magazine drops late January

The long awaited 14th issue of Australia’s best hip hop magazine, Stealth, will finally hit newsagents and record stores in the third or fourth week of January. With a massive Def Wish Cast feature, it also covers Funkoars, Astronomy Class, and Mr Thing, has a feature on Chuck Wilson’s Babygrande label and columns written by the likes of Braintax, Breeze Brewin (Juggaknots), Mystro and Ciecmate (Hospice Crew).

The mag has received a visual overhaul courtesy of pre-eminent hip-hop graphic designer April77 and if all goes according to plan we won’t have to wait quite as long for issue 15!

Stealth Forum
Stealth on MySpace