Typical. You wait weeks for a quality local hip hop release and then three (okay, two and two halves) come along all at once. These should be hitting shelves tomorrow:
Distributor: Obese
Bias B – Been There, Done That (Obese): Third album from the Melbourne stalwart has generated a positive pre-release buzz. Long time live favourites like “Namedropper” finally get an official release, and Ciecmate joins Bias for an ode to fishing on “Catch of the Day”.
Distributor: Shogun
Clandestien – Chasms of the Citadel (DoubleBeef): Mortar (who’s currently doing SA and NSW launches for his own solo album), Tomahawk and Graphic’s third album won’t dissapoint fans. Preview tracks indicate development in flow and production without losing any trademark Clandestien grime. Hell Razah – Renaissance Child (Babygrande): Wu-Tang-affiliate and Sunz of Man member continues the string of better-than-anyone-expected albums from Shaolin second stringers. Word has it that HR is no slouch, but RA’s verse steals the show (a la his guest shot with Jedi Mind Tricks last year). Other guests include DOOM, Kweli and Ras Kass. JVC Force – Forcefield (Traffic): Another in Traffic’s series of essential re-issues. Shawn Lov – Waiting for a Ghost (Nuffsaid): Not quite an Australian release, but featuring production from Prowla and some of the most earnest, hungry verses to drop this year, this is underdog hip hop at its best. Thirstin Howl III & Rack Lo: Lo Down & Dirty (Class A): As with Shawn Lov, here we have a veteran US East Coast act backed by beats from down under. Stricknine and The Optimen provide half the beats for the Polo Rican’s first full album alongside long time homie Rack Lo. Purportedly some of the Skillosopher’s best work in a while.
So I was cleaning the house over the weekend, as one does, and (due to a busted laser in my portable CD player) was forced to resort to the good ol’ fashioned radio for background entertainment. Yep, that old chestnut. Fox FM in Melbourne, I found out, have a little ‘Australian music only’ show slotted into their Sunday afternoon timeslot – ensuring the Austereo station ticks all of its Government-enforced Australian music quota boxes without risking pissing off fans of the Pussycat Dolls and Matchbox 20 during the breakfast show and drive time. Nice work guys!
Anyway, you’ll never guess what happened to grace the airwaves on this particular Sunday afternoon… none other than the dulcet tones of Radio Freedom! Huzzah!! For those not in the know, RF were an early 90s Aussie pop/dance combo, who looked pretty suave in Ray-Bans, love beads and unbuttoned white linen vests over freshly-waxed torsos. More importantly, they had real-life black American chicks singing their hooks and – what’s this – even incorporated rap vocals into their music! Peep this stellar snippet from their 1992 hit ‘I Can Feel It’:
Crisp like wafer/razor sharp and hot like laser
Woah! Fiyah! It got me thinking about all the other Aussie rap pioneers – Eric Sebastian droppin’ heat on Peter Andre’s ‘Let’s Get It On’, ex-E Street star Bruce Samazan’s surf rap classic ‘One Of A Kind’, even that ill joint by junior firecrotch Brooke ‘Mikey’ Anderson. And that dude from Euphoria had rhymes for days! But strangely, these people are never mentioned in the same breath as Def Wish Cast, Just Us or Mama’s Funkstikools. Why? Surely their contributions are worthy? Where’s the love for the originators?
And don’t even get me started on those early pop collabos that paved the way for some of today’s Aussie rap legends! Jase and Scarz On 45 kickin’ science on Melbourne harmony quartet CDB’s debut album! DJ A.S.K. from the X-Fader Raiders cuttin’ it up on neo-Motown crew Human Nature’s ‘Sleepin’ Alone’! Ah, the memories…
Not content with producing the lead single for a major mainstream US rap star’s upcoming album, Melbourne’s Styalz Fuego is strapping on his backpack to contribute two bonus tracks for the upcoming iCON the Mic King album Mike And The Fat Man. Hip Hop Site reports that the bulk of the Philly battler’s LP is produced by Demigodz beatmaker Chum The Scrilla Guerilla, but the Fuego-made bonus tracks will feature Killah Priest and Wu-Tang chanteuse Blue Raspberry.
Obese’s annual showcase of its artists is going national, hitting all state capitals in April and May. Starting in melbourne on 20 April, the roadshow hits Hobart on 21 April, Adeladie on the 27th, Perth on the 28th, then Sydney on 5 May and Brisbane on the 6th.
According to the press release:
The Obese Block Party has been a sold out event for the past 3 years in Melbourne and now because of high demand and repeated requests from interstate, Obese Records have decided to take this legendary showcase national.
Obese artists are renowned for their charismatic stage presence and energetic, skilful sets and a number of acts have been enlisted on this national tour to bring the finest home grown talent to your city, making each night an unforgettable experience.
No word yet on which artists will join the tour. Bias B seems a likely choice, with his new album hitting shelves this week. Muph n Plutnoic and Funkoars may have toured in the last few months, but surely haven’t worn out their welcome. Stay tuned for line-up revelations as they happen.
I’m trying to think of a funny joke involving Snoop “gettin’ on the greenery” or “chillin’ in the pad” (as in cool-black-guy slang for “house”) but it’s all coming off quite lame so I’ll just let the picture do the talking.
GroundUp has the scoop on the Doggfather’s Sydney promo shoot for Australian MTV. I doubt Snoop could hit a six off a Warnie fast bowl, but then again Boony would never look this good in Crip-blue sweats. Enjoy.
Don’t get it twisted: MySpace is the devil. However, the devil occasionally makes himself useful in the process of promoting his ‘brand’. So it was that Brisbane, the city voted most likely to miss out on sideshow gigs for any festival to come within 182 kilometres of its borders, was granted a free audience with the masters of modern throwback rap, Jurassic 5. True, feedback on their latest album (and first without Cut Chemist) has been lukewarm at best, but there’s never been any doubt that J5 could rock a show properly. All we had to do was line up for two hours along Ann St at 5pm on a Monday afternoon. With rumours that this could be their last tour as a group, we gambled that it would be worth the wait.
Following a warm up set from 2Dogz with assorted freestyles from DNO and Brisbane open mic mainstay Richie D, the LA happy rap crew hit the stage with practiced aplomb. With the Zoo at 500-head capacity, the crowd knew they were privileged to witness such an intimate performance, and J5 seemed genuinely happy to be rocking a club rather than a stadium. Chali 2na, Mark Seven, Soup and Akil laid down their flawless stage routine on what I imagine is a much smaller stage than they’ve been used to in recent years. DJ Numark got his couple of minutes to shine, marred only by a power cut to his handheld sampler. Otherwise, it was back-to-back feel good mic swapping. There were three or four songs I didn’t recognise, only one of which failed to capture the trademark Jurassic vibe. When they departed without performing the lacklustre Dave Matthews Band-guested single, it was obvious what the encore was going to be. However, even ‘Work It Out’ wasn’t all bad in the live context, and when they topped it off with a freestyle session over Pete Rock’s beat for Ghostface’s “Be Easy”, any easy listening indiscretions were forgiven.
J5 is one of the few hip hop crews I can envisage doing a reunion tour ten years down the track. They have finely crafted beats, don’t shy away from real lyricism and can still reach out to a general listening audience. When the 2016 Jurassic 5 reunion tour hits town, chances are all the people who really didn’t give a shit about music when they were 22 will be dragged along by friends with fond reminisces of a gig like this, and end up wondering why they spent the best years of their lives trying to pick up at clubs playing pusillanimous house music.
It’s been a minute coming, but the DVD of the 2005 Scribble Jam, featuring the MC battle won by Melbourne’s Justice, is finally hitting local shelves. The highlight is undoubtedly the MC battles, which find Justice evenly matched against the likes of Iron Solomon, H-Bomb and TheSaurus. The novelty of Justice being an Australian may have helped him secure what is a very close battle in the final round against Iron Solomon, but there’s no denying he brings an energy that’s lacking in his opponents. The rest of the DVD package is pretty tight, particuarly the mind- and back-bending b-boy competition, won by the Brickheadz. There’s also dope performances from Masta Ace and RA The Rugged Man, and Spankrock and Amanda Blank dish out a nice version of “Bump”, prior to it becoming a worldwide hipster favourite.
…and here’s a clip of Justice battling The Tongue in Australian preliminaries for the 2005 SJ. Ironically, The Tongue threatens to send J’s ashes to Scribble Jam in an urn. Ha!
Melbourne heads can get a dose of “that real black music” tomorrow night at The Spot, with performances from Boltz, Cherry P and Forthwrite in between DJ sets from Frank Force and Tommy Carson, who promise to spin everything from Daisy Age to Ghetto Minimalism to UK Grime. What better way to earn a Valetine’s Day hangover?
Time for another look at what’s hit the shelves of your local CD emporium this week. It’s a pretty quiet one.
Distrbutor: EMI Gang Starr – Mass Appeal, The Best Of (Virgin) NWA – The Strength of Street Knowledge, The Best Of (Priority)
Best of compilations from two groups whose entire catalogues are virtually essential as it is.
Distributor: Inertia Jazzy Jeff – Return of the Magnificent EP (Rapster): Vinyl EP featuring tracks from Jeff’s forthcoming album, with verses from CL Smooth, Little Brother and Rhymefest.
Distributor: Shogun J-Rock – Streetwize: 15th Anniversay Edition (Traffic): Re-issue of the classic DJ Premier/Easy Mo Bee produced rarity. DJ Green Lantern & Ludacris – The Truth Shall Set You Free (Invasion): Ludacris gets the coveted Green Lantern mixtape treatment. Sean Price – Jesus Price Supastar (Duck Down): This was on last week’s release list as well, but I’m not going to argue – Sean P brings it with more personality than the rest of underground rap combined.
Distributor: Warner Music Australia P Diddy ft Christina Aguilera – Tell Me (Atlantic): Okay, it’s a dead week for rap releases. Apparently, this guy used to work with B.I.G.
New hip hop being added to the national radio airwaves this week includes Busdriver’s “Casting Agent and Cowgirls” and K-Os’s “Sunday Morning”. The Busdriver jam is hot, but the last time I checked Canadian son-of-some-Jehovah’s Witnesses K-Os was 2004’s reasonably okay Joyful Rebellion which did an admirable if uneven job of channeling influences from Bowie to KRS. “Jane Fonda” by MySpace darling Mickey Avalon has also been added, but the less said about him the better.
Meanwhile both “The Punch” and “Bad Education” by The Tongue continue to receive a thorough flogging from the youf broadcaster. JPlay says “The Punch” is the fourth most-played joint on the Js for last week. Word!
Posted by Writin' Exact 
Posted by chrispy1 
Posted by Writin' Exact 
