Fresh from Groovin’ The Moo and Seth Sentry’s national tours, Tuka and Ellesquire have been tearing the country apart with sold out shows everywhere. Saturday June 8 will see them come direct to their hometown to join fellow locals Jones Jnr at Newtown Hotel for one hell of a night of Soul and Hip Hop.
Tuka, one third of Newtown’s beloved Thundamentals has had an insanely busy 18 months starting with the release of Thundmentals highly acclaimed Foreverlution which ignited a blazing tour all over the country. Thundamentals fast became Triple j’s most popular ‘Like A Version’ with their cover of Matt Corby’s Brother. October saw the release of Tuka’s solo EP Feedback Loop featuring diamond tracks such as Just To Feel Wanted and Die A Happy Man.
Ellesquire (Big Village and Loose Change) known for his smooth charm and eloquent wit will be whipping punters into a state of hilarity and style as he performs snippets from his brand new Mixtape ‘The Messtape‘ and his 2012 album Ready including the hit On The Prowl.
Ev Jones and DJ Morgs collaborated on the now infamous Thundamentals’ cover of Matt Corby’s Brother for Triple j’s ‘Like A Version’ with Ev Jones performing guest vocals with the band. This sparked a collaboration that saw the pair release a Soultape that soon spun international bookers into a frenzy. Make sure you get to the gig early to catch Jones Jnr and see their most recent live offering.
Don’t miss this free epic local Hip Hop and sweet soul line up. The show will kick off at 7pm so get in early to get a spot as this one is sure to hit capacity. For a taste of what’s to come check out the free download of Ellesquires ‘The Messtape’ and Jones Jnr’s ‘Soultape’. See you on Saturday the 8th of June.
Puzle is one of the Australia’s top writers and still in the game after 25 years. We catch up with Puzle to talk about the Kings Way book released a few years back, the rise of graffiti in Australia and his latest print project.
aahh: Tell us a bit about how you first got into writing and the graff scene? Puzle: As a teenage kid looking for adventure and mischief. Graf was new and magical. I always liked art and drawing as a kid so when graffiti started to appear in my neighbourhood I gravitated towards it. I had no idea how obsessed I would become.
aahh: Who were some of the early writers that you were inspired by? Obviously the scene in Australia was still in its infancy, was there anyone to look up to? Puzle: I was directly inspired by the early writers and breakers of my neighbourhood. People like; Dynamic Force, The Magic Makers and Town’s Koolest United.
aahh: It’s been nearly 4 years since the release of the Kings Way book. For those that don’t know tell us a bit about the book and what it represents in terms of Melbourne graff culture? Puzle: It’s a comprehensive snapshot on the evolution of Melbourne’s graffiti scene, over the first decade. It follows a loose linear chronology, and focuses on individuals that committed their entire teenage lives to painting letter styles. It is not a definitive publication, as it’s purpose was to inspire others to get out of the closet and write their own histories. Having said that it does showcase the best and most iconic that Melbourne had to offer during that period. The biggest re-occurring insight in my mind is that all the work showcased was produced by teenagers under the age of 20 years old. I find that phenomenal on every level, especially when you look at the level of energy and creative detail involved.
aahh: There was definitely an early connection between graff and the hip hop scene back in the late 80′s early 90′s, what were you’re first experiences with local hip hop? Puzle: Yeah the majority of writers were always bopping to hip hop, although many of them, including myself were diverse in music taste. I remember Velore & Double O making an appearance in Melbourne followed by the Run Dmc, Derek B concert at Festival Hall in 88, that was pretty special. Plus we had Central Station Records which was a one stop shop for all new releases. The early 90s techno era changed a lot of things with many writers tapping into the electro connection within that genre. Rock and metal were always big too. Same with funk and house music. I was never down with the elements concept of hip hop culture. I always thought graffiti had a right to stand on its own, rather than be packaged with parameters. You only have to look at all the old New York graf to see how diverse the music tastes of writers were pre-hip hop.
aahh: What do you think has been the biggest change within the graff scene over, say the last 10-15 years, locally or internationally? Puzle: There’s been a lot of reinvestigation of old styles. Which I really like. I think that graf is a visual microcosm of how homogenized as a global society we have become. Mainly due to the internet. Writers all over the world are working in global groups of style rather than local styles. I’ve got no problem with that. There’s an overwhelming amount of lazy style that doesn’t make for a very inspiring and evolving subculture. Originality and having something that is your own, is what being a writer is all about.
aahh: How would you describe your style? Puzle: I like to work in groups of style. Depending on how I feel. Sometimes curvaceous and flame like, other times, rounded blob style letters, other times, straight interlocking semi-wildstyles, other times, block busters, other times, character letters and other times, concept driven pieces. Mixing it up is the only reason I’m still in the game.
aahh: Tell us more about your new project Puzle Posters? Puzle: I’ve always wanted to do a series of posters. I released a bunch of limited edition prints a few months back that have been received really well. They are a combination of ideas. The Classic Throw-up and Old Spraycans, are excerpts from Kings Way. The rest are concept drawings and sayings. There’s a Puzle subway map, where I’ve drawn my name into a train line and listed most of the yards I hit. There’s also a Puzle Says series, where I take the piss a bit, ‘it’s ok to paint slow’ and ‘it’s ok to cut back’. Plus probably my favourite Puzle says ‘Famous online is the new famous on the lines’. This rings very true.
The print quality is amazing. Every grown up b-boy needs one of these in their house.
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You can check out more here and also pick yourself up a print.
Tu P, the hip-hop artist with an MD, launched his brand new album at the Scorcher Festival in Brisbane on April 28th 2013. The inspiration for the music comes from Tu P’s interesting background and follows his unlikely path to hip-hop music. Tu P is a proud Australian with Vietnamese roots.
The son of refugees, a doctor, writer and performer, Tu P’s music mixes influences and genres to buoy lyrics that tell the story of his unique background and experience. His musical journey began on a trip to Vietnam to discover his roots that his Vietnamese parents were forced to leave behind. His music, like his life bridges two different cultures and has vast appeal. Tu P’s influences, which include DMX, Eminem and 2Pac, inspire his music, but do not dictate his sound, which his background imbibes with a distinctive sense of individuality.
His music, while gaining ground in the mainstream, is for his fans, not to promote an image. He writes to inspire and his upcomng debut album Made of Jade has been acclaimed by music critic Alex Henderson as “enjoyably unconventional.”
Tu P is young, talented and emerging. His music is indicative of a new generation of hip-hop, coming not from the criminal underworld, but from a background rich with unique experience that tells a story as it flows from verse to rhyme. Tu P is unpretentious and ambitious and his debut album provides his fans with a refreshing and unique take on hip hop.
May 2013 sees Brisbane locals Mr Hill & Rahjconkas release their sophomore album Dead End Street. In the space of one year they have firmly made a place for themselves in the industry and gained respect and accolades from genre veterans. Since the release of lead single in October 2012 Put The Work In popularity for this young duo has gained increasingly.
Being chosen by Triple j unearthed to play at Brisbane’s hip hop festival Sprung, saw the boys perform on a major platform with overwhelming support. The two are planning to hit the road in July on their own headline tour to all major capital cities following the release of Dead End Street.
On the back of his first addition to rotation on Triple j, Citizen Kay releases the video (directed by Nic Vevers) for the triumphant debut single Yes! from his forthcoming EP of the same name.
The release is accompanied by tour dates around the country which kicked off April 28th with a slot at Groovin’ the Moo in Canberra and a May residency at Sydney’s Upstairs Beresford. A respected member of the Canberra hip-hop scene, Kay has been writing, producing, recording, collaborating and honing his craft for the last five years. His first taste of notable attention was when triple j Unearthed picked up on his mixtape. Since then Kay has been an unstoppable force.
With a major buzz from the blogosphere and spins on triple j and Unearthed behind him, Kay has been building momentum since the release of the Ansah Brothers track with brother Genesis. Kay brings his trademark flow and broad music sensibilities to his beats, creating music with a playful edge and a Del-meets-Lupe appeal. Citizen Kay is set to deliver on the promise shown.
The Yes! EP is due in May.
Wednesday, 1st May Oxford Art Factory, Sydney Supporting Matt & Kim Friday, 3rd May (Afternoon show) Northcore Social Club, Melbourne sup. Matt & Kim Friday, 3rd May (Evening show) The Espy, Melbourne Saturday, 4th May Upstairs Beresford, Sydney Thursday, 9th May The Zoo, Brisbane Supporting Matt & Kim Saturday, 11th May Upstairs Beresford, Sydney Saturday, 18th May Upstairs Beresford, Sydney Saturday, 25th May Upstairs Beresford, Sydney Thursday, 30th May Transit Bar, Canberra
Surrender To Victory sees The Tongue coming into his own as artist and collaborator, articulating a positive vision beyond the confines of modern local hip hop. From the opening track the listener can hear this development. We catch up with The Tongue, fresh off the back of the announcement of his Surrender To Victory Tour yesterday.
aahh: You’ve talked about one of your goal’s for the new album, Surrender to Victory was to be a lot more positive and uplifting. Why was that decision made? The Tongue: It was just the kind of mind-set I was in really. I don’t delve into it much deeper than that. The youth of today don’t have a lot of great role models. Every other week some footy player has been announced to be on drugs, Lance Armstrong is a cheat, politicians are corrupt, the government lies to you, the media lies to you. In a way musicians are the last people who the youth can still look up to. An artist like Kendrick Lamar is someone with integrity, trying to find positives in the negative. Watching him perform when he came to Sydney was like a religious experience, you know it’s just him and a DJ. He’s such a powerful artist, everything he says he means. He is the guy I look up to at the moment, he has inspired me to not be afraid to make the music that I want to. With that being said, it can go too far the other way and end up becoming corny. No one wants to be preached to. I think its interesting that its rappers who are the last people who haven’t been censored. All other art forms have been compromised to a certain extent. As an artist it gets to a certain point, if you have a national audience of, say, 10,000 people hanging on your every word, you need to ask yourself how are you going to use that, what do you stand for? Is music meant to be just mindless entertainment? That’s something I think about.
aahh: Cam Bluff produced the whole album. We hear the first single ‘Drums’ was a bit of an ode to his banging beats, would you agree with that? The Tongue: That’s exactly correct. ‘Drums’ was one of the first beats he sent through. He’s amazing. I felt very honoured when he said he’d produce the album. After the first few beats he sent me, I knew he was the one. He is just so versatile. Cam continually impresses people and raises the bar. I believe his talent is world-class, he could be producing for someone like Jay-Z in a few years if he wanted to. He could go all the way.
aahh: On the last LP there was a track titled Australian Gangster and now on Surrender To Victory we see a track titled Australian Dreaming. Both can be described as accurate representations of Australian culture but they are almost at polar opposites. Is this reinforcing the positive angle you decided to take with this record, or was there something more to this. The Tongue: Well I got to a point in my music where I could keep doing what I was doing, raising issues and talking about problems or change it up and talk about solutions. I wrote “Australian Gangster” as a response to the Underbelly TV series because it seemed as if we were idolizing criminals. A true gangster doesn’t get killed or caught, he gets away with his crime. Everyone in Underbelly had their life ruined by their crimes and I think it was important to remind people of that. They ended up in jail or in the ground, that ain’t gangster Australian Dreaming is about my dream of a better Australia. I love this country but it always falls a bit short of its potential, a lot of things could be better. Listen to the song, you’ll see what I mean.
aahh: Would you say Finding My Religion feat. Joyride raises the question of whether or not religion actually relates to modern society as it is today? The Tongue: In my life hip hop has been my religion. It has influenced me more than anything else, and has allowed me to do things I wouldn’t have been able to do without it. Hip Hop has enriched my life. I really can’t figure out why it shouldn’t be classified as a religion. The Dr Dre’s of the hip hop world are our Arch Bishops, classic albums are our scriptures, ‘we worship the light at night’ as the song says. Concerts are our pilgrimages. Other than believing in hip hop culture, I’m not a religious person. I think a lot of religions are outdated. The last Pope encouraging people to not use a condom in Africa, I’d call that insanity. The Catholic church can’t seem to sort out abuse scandal after abuse scandal. Then there is the issue of; should churches really not have to pay tax? Because they believe in a ghost in the sky? Thats some A-grade bullshit right there.
Saahh: ome of the other people you worked with include the two most recent Elefant Trak signings in Sky’High and Jimblah. What have your experiences been with both these guys? The Tongue: Jim is a pretty amazing guy. The first time we met was last year at a rehearsal for the Elefant Traks Meets Dr Seuss show. The way he conducted himself, singing alongside Jayne Tizzel and Catti Baker from Sietta, he had no problem holding his own at the Opera House. I didn’t realise he was that much of a singer, and such an amazing rapper. He nailed that chorus on “Victory”, he’s got a lot of soul. I think of Sky as Australia’s own Ol Dirty Bastard. I mean that as a compliment. He was one of a kind and did what he wanted, no one could touch him. Sky straddles that border between gangsterism, consciousness and positivity. She’s so raw. Having her on that song in particular, a song about different experiences growing up in Australia and whats done in your name and others by the Government, that was important to me. She has led a very different life to me and we were able to present both sides of our stories.
aahh: The track ‘Own World’ has the line, I’m in my own world with a bunch of weed bundled up…’ You’ve obviously seen the new laws pass in America permitting the legal use of medicinal marijuana. Could you see something like that working in Australia and would you be in support of that? The Tongue: Portugal decriminalised drug possession and the results have been amazingly positive. Look it up. I think the main difference is they treat drug use as a medical issue rather than a criminal issue. Putting people in jail for possessing small amounts of weed won’t help them an awful lot. You come out branded as an ex con, it completely disrupts your life. On the other side of the argument, how can we have weed remain illegal while smoking tobacco and consuming alcohol remain legal? The effects of alcohol are terrible, if a doctor said take this pill, and the pill had the same side effects of alcohol, you wouldn’t take it. Just in the name of logic I think it would be a good idea, without promoting marijuana usage, I definitely think changing legislation in Australia would be a good thing. The main reason the States introduced it was purely for financial reasons, it makes more sense to make revenue from this then not to.
aahh: A couple of months back there was a bit of talk about a possible battle showdown involving yourself and another local rapper, what was it about this situation that made you want to get back in to battling? The Tongue: The way it worked was, 360 put something on twitter to the effect of ‘any old school battlers want to step up to this new battling format’ and I said ‘yeah, lets battle’. For one, this is hip hop, you want to take on worthy opponents, and I’m competitive just as most rappers should be. 60 didn’t want to do it and all the reasons he gave were insults; “The Tongue isn’t any good, doesn’t have a career and is irrelevant” etc, and we fired shots back and forth. We can do it freestyle or pre-written, the challenge still remains. But I think it won’t ever happen, because he’s scared he’ll lose. He’s smart to be scared of that. I won Revolver, I represented Australia in Battle Of Supremacy, I could take 60 apart easy. Any time he wants it, it’s on.
aahh: You recently performed at the iconic Sydney Opera House with the rest of the Elefant Traks as part of Graphic 2012. We hear you performed a version of Gerald Mc Boing Boing? The Tongue: Yeah, that was pretty wild. It was only me on stage with a head mic, and 1500 people. Pretty intimidating. Thankfully the kids loved it and the adults loved it just as much because they grew up with the work of Seuss. The video is live now so you can check it out above.
aahh: We’ve recently seen a Melbourne Hip Hop doco drop that talks about the Melbourne scene and it’s evolution with hip hop. How do you view the current Sydney scene as it is? The Tongue: I think every state is providing us with great artists and great albums. What’s good about Sydney in particular is the diversity. There’s a classic New York sound, you can’t say there’s a classic Sydney sound. I think that’s really cool and positive, We all aren’t in each others pockets, I only predict good things in the future. I mean, a lot of Sydney artists are very focused and taking things very seriously. Spit Syndicate are going hard this year, Jackie Onassis is going hard, there’s another Sky High album on the way, another Horrorshow album coming later this year. The Sydney scene is definitely growing in strength.
aahh: Any plans in the works for a national tour? The Tongue: Yes indeed. The “Surrender To Victory Tour” (creative name eh?) will be traveling right around the country, with local supports in each state. Every show is a party…every show me and DJ Skoob give 100%….the new songs bang live….you can’t loose baby, get that ass to a show!
Cold Light Of Day is the title of Dialectrix’s new album. Like Audio Projectile before it, the production is entirely handled by Plutonic Lab, with cuts by DJ 2Buck. After a wildly successful EP campaign, with large thanks to fan-support, DTrix’s Satellite was distributed on both vinyl and CD, and received high rotation on triple j with its lead single Stop.
The new album, dropping May 24th, is a transcendental piece of work. A meticulously detailed, enthralling, and unique listen from start to finish. A limited edition lyrics booklet will be included with all physical albums, and pre-ordered signed copies will be available through JB Hi-Fi and Soul Clap Records two weeks prior to the release date. The second single from the album has just dropped and is titled Go. You can check that out below. For full details of the album including track list and more, head here.
Following the success of Kerser’s No Rest For The Sickest Tour earlier this year, the infamous emcee hits the road for the second time in 2013 due to popular demand, accompanied by brother Rates and hype man Jay Dee. The Kerser and Rates - We Here Now Regional Tour kicks off on the 5th of June in NSW, the tour will make its way around regional Australia throughout June and July.
On top of Kerser and Rates having just released their single We Here Now together (now available on iTunes), Rates is also due to release his debut album Rebuild & Destroy later in the year through Obese Records Distribution. Keep an eye on Kerser’s Facebook page here for further announcements including local supports and state by state shows.
Tuka and Big Village records present a now polished collection of songs which you may have seen pop up on my Tuka’s soundcloud page, youtube channel or heard on various radio appearances over the last 12 months. These have been fleshed out, re-recorded, mixed, mastered and spliced together with brand new unreleased songs to form The Messtape.
The Messtape features 13 tracks including the Let’s Do It (Remix) feat. Billie McCarthy. The Messtape is available as a free download. Mixed by Simon Cohen. Additional vocals on Don’t Fall In Love & Lets Do It (Remix) by Inés. Lets Do It (Remix) Produced by P Major. Design & Layout by NMBR19.
Touted as being one of the most skillful females in the scene right now after her solid debut release Earthworthy in 2010 and The One Nighter mixtape in 2011. Kadyelle has supported and toured with such acts as Sage Francis, Ozi Batla, M-Phazes, Phrase, Illy, Spit Syndicate, The Tongue, Class A, Optamus, Muph & Plutonic, Seth Sentry plus many more.
Her newest LP The Theory of Everything features Ozi Batla, Thorts, Optamus, Dazastah, Hunter, Porsah Laine, Rachael Berry, Soma, Miss Karleena, Miss.She.ill, Rob Shaker and production from Rahjconkas, The Digital Assassin, Admin Beats and Ren Riz. The Theory of Everything is available now for a ‘name your price’ download. You can pick it up by following the link here.
