So man last year we seen you drop the album the Furnace, and it’s had a massive reception. Fans have been going nuts for it, with it selling out in a lot of places over the country. Did you expect this much of a response?
I definitely didn’t expect this kind of response at all. I knew I had a bit of a fan base and people checking for my shit, But I definitely didn’t expect this. Goes to show that with some hard work and a lot of patience, you can be rewarded. It’s really helped keep me hungry and the fire burning. You ain’t seen nothing yet!

So you grew up in South East Melbourne, Frankston area, and you we’re involved in the battle scene quite early on. Did you have any classic battles with anyone we know?
Ha. Yeah I battled a few people everyone knows, But I wouldn’t go and call them classic battles. Most of the battles held down that way back then, were just ya standard local emcees trying to get their name out there. Easy victims to pick off. Nothing major.

When was the moment you realised you wanted to get out of the battle scene and become a fulltime recording artist or was it more of a natural progression?
Well, I don’t think I ever really was in the “Battle scene”. I would just enter for a bit of fun and enjoyed the cash prize battles. You could rock up with 20 bucks and leave with 300. I always planned on recording music from the start. Battling is a good way to get ya name out a bit, But you can just as easily impress the heads and get noticed if ya got skills in the booth. Recording songs is where it’s at for me. If you can battle, But can’t make a dope song, what’s the point?

So you’re a part of the Crate Cartel Crew, with Raven, Geko (Hungry Humans Collective) and Discourse, the label/crew has had a huge past year how did the concept of Crate Cartel come about? Basically Geko was using the name for his production credits and we started making some music together and we decided we should run with it as a label/crew. Raven was part of the same group as Geko, so naturally he was on board from the jump too. Discourse had done the artwork for all our albums and was Djing with us for live shows, so we recruited him to the team. He can bang out a mean beat too.

Did the crew have an overall vision of what you wanted to accomplish or bring to the scene? Just doing music we like. Music we know is dope. We’ve got a very strong work ethic and I think that helps us stay consistent. We don’t fuck around either. There’s always some Crate Cartel project in the works. I think we’re at the right point now for shit to really start popping off.

One of our top videos from last year would have to be the Every Step film clip, which was done by Discourse, it came up looking great, tell us a bit about that one? We imagine scenes of staff trailers, drink bitches and an endless budget to film with. Ha. Total opposite. Discourse just came to me one day with this idea he had in his head, which involved using  the green screen effect. We didn’t have anything to use so we just used a green blanket and tied it up on the front porch. I did my thing in front of the blanket and the rest is history haha. Most simple but effective clip. The result was fucking insane. major props to Discourse on that one. Although, we did have to drive around for a while taking pictures of buildings and shit around the city and our local areas. All those pics in the background, we took ourselves.

So your battle style comes through on the album a fair bit, but you’ve got this great ability to be able to deliver some real personal shit, you really give the listener an ability to relate to the track, do you think that this is important aspect of your style of hip hop? Most definitely. Very important. I love the braggadocio type shit, But nothing beats reaching people and sharing parts of your life and thoughts through music. That’s powerful shit, Bringing messages across to complete strangers all around the country, or the world for that matter. I need to vent through my music. Everyone has a story to tell, I try to tell mine with skill. Ha.

So what are you working on at the moment I’ve heard rumors that you’ve started on your next album? Can you tell us anything about this project yet? Yeah, I’m about to knuckle down and begin work on my next project. Can’t really give anything away just yet. But I got some real surprises coming in terms of the guests featured on this next one. I always want to outdo my previous efforts. You gotta keep it moving and show growth in your work. I don’t wanna make another furnace album, I wanna knock it out the water and keep people hungry for my music.

Some of the other guys in the Crate Cartel crew are doing some things at the moment, we have Crate Cartel Radio from Geko and also a new album from Raven, which I hear your doing a verse on, got any news you want to share about these releases? Yeah, Both those albums will be dropping this year. Both are actually not too far off from completion either. I don’t want to give anything away about those gems either, But get ready for some serious heat. You can find me on both of those albums.

Now back to The Furnace you have a few features,on the album including Brad Strut, Ciecmate, Mata, Maundz are we going to see you work with any of these guys again in the future, whether it be on your next release or featuring on one of their tracks? Yeah, I’m a guest emcee on the new Maundz album which is dropping in May. I’m doing some stuff for a Ciecmate project which is still hush hush for now. All the featuring on my album are mates of mine, so I’m sure we’ll work together on some shit in the future.

One of the tracks on your album that has been talked a lot about is the track Loco-Motive featuring Fatty Phew and Maundz did you expect this track to do as well as it’s done?
Yeah, I knew it would be a favorite with the fans. Once I got my hands on the beat, I had a think about which emcees could really bring that aggressive shit to the table, so I got Phew and Maundz on it, knowing us three together, would make for a fucking full steam ahead banger.

You teamed up with producer Doc Felix on the track Authorized and it really highlighted your ability to mix it up on various beats, did you let Doc run wild on the beat or did you have a vision in mind with the track? I loved that horn loop when I first heard it and wanted to get my swagger flow happening on it haha. I didn’t need it to be played with much in terms of messing with the loop or anything. Just knew it would make for a nice uplifting song to be placed in between my more darker joints on the album. Felix kills it on those cuts too.

Any upcoming shows or final words?
Pretty much winding up on the show tip for now. I’ve had the pleasure of joining Lazy Grey and Bias B for some really memorable shows in Melbourne and Brisbane. I did a joint launch with Ciecmate & Newsense too for our albums, plus a few others. Just settling back into the writing part again. Making albums can really fuck with ya head and take years off your life, But it’s always worth it.

Tracklist:
1. Spit Surgeon (Prod Discourse)
2. Every Step (Prod Geko)
3. Lead Pipe Languages (Prod Geko)
4. Loco Motive (ft. Fatty Phew & Maundz) (Prod WIK)
5. Short Stories (Prod K21)
6. The Furnace Cometh (Prod Geko)
7. Paper Chase Days (Prod Geko)
8. Take Notice (ft. Brad Strut & Ciecmate) (Prod Ciecmate)
9. Repent (Prod Ciecmate)
10. Endless Road (Prod Geko)
11. Authorized (Prod Doc Felix)
12. 4 Aces (ft. Mata, Must & 1/6) (Prod Must)
13. Capo Regime (ft. Raven & Geko) (Prod Geko)
14. Bright Lights Dark Shadows (Prod Must)