Review: Jurassic 5 MySpace Secret Show, Brisbane

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.

Mark Seven and Chali 2na hype the secret crowd.

Mark Seven freestyle over “Be Easy”

Review: Overproof – The High Life CD (Broken Tooth Entertainment)

Review by Chrispy

Overproof are helping to redefine the sound of Sydney hip-hop with their debut offering The High Life. Far from rehashing the tried and true b-boy beats and brag-and-boast rhymes of their Western Sydney counterparts, the trio of Swarmy, Abuse and Fame have forged their own path to deliver a polished effort characterised by crisp beats, thoughtful rhymes, strong concepts and plenty of personality.

Overproof are a seemingly incongruent trio – on paper, Swarmy’s deep-voiced bombast, Fame’s cocky Lil Wayne-esque swagger and Abuse’s deadpan delivery appear to be an unlikely mix. On wax, however, the three emcees’ varied styles combine to ensure (vocally at least) that there’s rarely a dull moment on this 17-tracker.

From the opening bars of the title track onwards, one thing becomes clearly apparent to the listener: in-house producer Fame’s beats are on some next shit. Taking a detour from the Aussie rap staples of straightforward kick-and-snare patterns and dusty loops, Fame has obviously studied the Just Blaze/Scott Storch manual and combines samples and synths to create a sound that is variously innovative, club-ready and riot-inducing. After some stellar work on 13th Son’s The Hero, The Trickster and Spit Syndicate’s The Future’s Bright mixtape, Fame ups the ante yet again to deliver some of the most world-class beats yet heard on these shores.

And while Fame is no slacker in the lyrical department, Swarmy is clearly the group’s star, hogging the limelight with taunts at ‘bed-wettin’ trendsetters who claim to stack the cheddar/but only got wet fetta’ on ‘Better Than You’ and telling lesser rappers to ‘bet your bottom bunk (cos) I’m on top of this’ on ‘Rock To This’. However, Abuse is never far behind, and although his monotone voice and flow appear to hint at Len One levels of vocal mediocrity, repeated listening reveals a dry sense of humour and some biting observations on life – The High Life, the low life and everything in between. (Plus any emcee with the good sense to rhyme ‘D cups’ with ‘deez nuts’ is alright by me.)

Overproof sum up their style on bangin’ cuts like ‘Get Ours’, ‘Takeover’ and the aforementioned ‘The High Life’, but manage to vary things up nicely with the reflective, string-laden ‘The Worst Things’ and the radio-ready ‘Sunshine’. ‘On The Set’, their ode to the adult entertainment industry, is a little too much for this reviewer to handle – the mental image of a naked, sweaty Swarmy gettin’ down and dirty with some nubile young beauties is not one that bears repeating – and the album tends to drag towards the third quarter, with repetitive production and some less-than-thrilling guest appearances blighting an otherwise entertaining debut.

Despite these minor missteps, though, The High Life is a great first attempt from Overproof: a quality product that offers a different spin on Aussie hip-hop amid a sea of carbon-copy crews. To paraphrase Abuse, you’d do a lot worse than to throw on your Bettina Liano and enjoy the luxurious pleasures of The High Life.

Overproof on MySpace
Broken Tooth Entertainment

Review: Hilltop Hoods “What A Great Night” CDS/12” (Obese Records)

Major label isht aside, the CD single is a rare commodity in Australian hip hop, with most acts catering to a core fanbase that are going to buy (or download) the album anyway. ARIA, DMA, and J-Award winners Hilltop Hoods are one of the few who can afford the luxury, which is good news for listeners who appreciate remixes and instrumentals, and DJs who can cop the accompanying 12”.

With a rocking, rattling guitar loop, tinkling chorus, and party-hardy theme, “What A Great Night” is an obvious single choice from The Hard Road, even if it’s not one of the best tracks from the album. Suffa’s verses don’t measure up to the previous two singles, and while there’s a concept, it’s not explored on par with, say, “Stopping All Stations”. The remix from Simplex of Terra Firma adds a touch of drama with it’s flute and a brief, ominous switch up at the start of Suffa’s second verse. The thickly layered chorus is almost, but not quite, too busy and the stripped back ‘rock the house’ outro works a treat. With any luck, this is a sign of some forthcoming Terra Firma material. Funkwig & deNorthwode’s loping remix keeps things sparse, extending the intro and adding cuts from DJs Sum 1 and Kansel in the outro. Overall, it’s a safe choice for a radio single, with remixes to satisfy the heads.

Hilltop Hoods on MySpace
Obese Records

Def Wish Cast live in Brisbane

Sydney’s Def Wish Cast bring their album launch tour to Queensland this weekend, with members of their Basic Equipment crew in tow. Last night’s Brisbane show was a little sparsely attended, but those who did show brought plenty of love for the b-boy originators. Scott Burns set it off with a short set that seemed largely off the cuff. Beatboxer Rivals stepped up and got busy with Brissy’s own Tom Thumb (aka Tommy Illfigga – album dropping early next year on United Notions) before being joined on stage by MC Immune, who had a tight show and a few songs that definitely deserve a closer listen.

The sound at the Columbian Bar is not brilliant, which is disappointing as the place is becoming the default venue for a lot of Australian hip hop. (The Living Room, across town in Paddington, has a better sound and a classier vibe, but is demand in across genres, so only the bigger events are getting in.) The first half of DWC’s set was marred by feedback that necessitated constant mic-swapping by Die-C and Def Wish, but by the last few songs all kinks were ironed out. DJ Murda 1’s ferocious cuts settled perfectly into the bombastic production and the three MCs maintained their energy throughout. Def Wish’s breakneck speed-spitting on older cuts They Will Not Last and AUST was unlike anything seen on Oz stages these days, Sereck gave us a brief handheld 808 workout, and the closing tracks – Knights of the Underground Table, Allstars and AUS Down – proved definitively that old kings never die.

Video: Def Wish Cast – Knights of the Underground Table – Live at the Columbian