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Fruitonica · 04-15-2010, 08:24 PM

This thread has hovered on the edge of my thoughts for a while now, but Anteater's post of a cool aussie group I've never heard of gave me the motivation to actually make it.

In one of the first reviews I did here I touched on Aussie hip hop's confusion with itself. We don't have a true cultural background for the music, other than what we steal from America, and that makes the scene kind of directionless. Generally, Australian acts are still underground and our mainstream is almost all American, only one or two acts have made something resembling a breakthrough.

But there is still a lot of good hip hop coming out of Aus, I'll start off with some of the more successful/established groups just to give you an idea of the scene. Hopefully other people will post their favourite acts as well.

Hilltop Hoods

The undisputed grand dames of Aussie hip hop, and for the most part they deserve it. Suffa and Pressure have strong aggressive flows and a fair helping of lyrical dexterity (though they consistently fall short of insight), and Debris is a great commercial producer who has cooked up some brilliant hooks in his time (example, the pipe sample on their breakout single Nosebleed Section). Plus they can put on a blistering live show.

The Hoods cop a bit of **** about how Americanised their sound is, but to be fair, they mostly appropriate the battle rap bragging aspect and leave the tired gangsterisms and thug posing.

Best Album - The Hard Road Restrung

The Herd

Another long running act, and in my opinion if any band has a real Australian flavour in their music, it's them. They're a live band so their sound has less of a sheen than the Hoods, with more of a focus on warm muscular grooves and organic arrangements. The flow is relaxed, with occasional dashes of nimbleness.

What really sets them apart is their lyrical focus, with a strong focus on social and political justice. I first heard them on their live version of the classic "I was only 19", now this is only a cover but it perfectly fits their type of song writing - elegant simplicity and a powerful message.
The first original song of theirs I heard was 77%, a response to the Tampa affair. And I was impressed that they went after more than just the politicians, and basically told the entire country to **** off on their lead single.

Best Album - I would say Summerland but I think popular consensus would be The Sun Never Sets

Ok, I'll put in a few more later, but hopefully someone else will pitch in.

04-15-2010, 08:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Fruitonica Pale and Wan Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Aus Posts: 917	Aussie Hip Hop This thread has hovered on the edge of my thoughts for a while now, but Anteater's post of a cool aussie group I've never heard of gave me the motivation to actually make it. In one of the first reviews I did here I touched on Aussie hip hop's confusion with itself. We don't have a true cultural background for the music, other than what we steal from America, and that makes the scene kind of directionless. Generally, Australian acts are still underground and our mainstream is almost all American, only one or two acts have made something resembling a breakthrough. But there is still a lot of good hip hop coming out of Aus, I'll start off with some of the more successful/established groups just to give you an idea of the scene. Hopefully other people will post their favourite acts as well. Hilltop Hoods The undisputed grand dames of Aussie hip hop, and for the most part they deserve it. Suffa and Pressure have strong aggressive flows and a fair helping of lyrical dexterity (though they consistently fall short of insight), and Debris is a great commercial producer who has cooked up some brilliant hooks in his time (example, the pipe sample on their breakout single Nosebleed Section). Plus they can put on a blistering live show. The Hoods cop a bit of ** about how Americanised their sound is, but to be fair, they mostly appropriate the battle rap bragging aspect and leave the tired gangsterisms and thug posing. Best Album - The Hard Road Restrung The Herd Another long running act, and in my opinion if any band has a real Australian flavour in their music, it's them. They're a live band so their sound has less of a sheen than the Hoods, with more of a focus on warm muscular grooves and organic arrangements. The flow is relaxed, with occasional dashes of nimbleness. What really sets them apart is their lyrical focus, with a strong focus on social and political justice. I first heard them on their live version of the classic "I was only 19", now this is only a cover but it perfectly fits their type of song writing - elegant simplicity and a powerful message. The first original song of theirs I heard was 77%, a response to the Tampa affair. And I was impressed that they went after more than just the politicians, and basically told the entire country to off on their lead single. Best Album** - I would say Summerland but I think popular consensus would be The Sun Never Sets Ok, I'll put in a few more later, but hopefully someone else will pitch in.