The Frontier Touring Company announce that stand up legend and celebrated Hollywood personality Chris Tucker will bring his rapid fire wit and signature delivery to Australia for the very first time this June!Lighting the American stand up circuit on fire at only 19 years of age and fast becoming a favourite on Def Comedy Jam, Tucker’s break out role was alongside Ice Cube in the cult classic movie, Friday.
Following a show stealing turn in the sci-fi classic The Fifth Element and Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Tucker starred with Jackie Chan in action buddy comedy smash hit Rush Hour. As fast talking Detective James Carter, Tucker had audiences everywhere in hysterics leading to Rush Hour smashing box office records with the trilogy earning $850 million worldwide.
After taking a six year hiatus from the big screen, he recently returned to co-star alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro in the Oscar-nominated film Silver Linings Playbook. Exploring a different and more thoughtful dimension as mental-patient Danny, Tucker garnered plenty of praise along the way. Despite his critically acclaimed film career, stand up has always been home for Chris Tucker. Whilst MIA from screens, the comedic genius has been reclaiming his status as stand up king. Says Tucker, “People might not know this but I’ve been busy working. I went back to stand-up about six years ago and have been touring for the last few years in the States and now we’re taking it international”.
And now for the first time ever Chris Tucker will be bringing his irreverent sense of humour, bucket loads of swag and THAT trademark voice for a 7 date national stand up tour that promises to have Australia in stitches.
Having been mentored by the likes of industry legend John Payne (WIDEawake & Death Row Records) to touring with some of the worlds hip hop elite from Ice Cube, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Xzibit, KRS One, D12 and many more Big Dave is set to drop his latest single The Original featuring world renown hip hop artist Snoop Dogg to national media in the coming weeks.
‘The Original’ is the second single to be released from Big Dave’s upcoming 2013 album Self Made being released through MGM Distribution. I am sure I need not introduce Snoop Dogg or as some might know him by his alter ego Snoop Lion but for those that haven’t heard that name before Snoop Dogg is one of the world’s highest selling Hip Hop artists of all time with an accolade of successive awards and highest selling hits.
“Having grown up listening to American Hip Hop I feel truly honoured to have gone from the outside looking in to all of a sudden releasing my own album featuring so many of the artists I am a fan of myself” Big Dave.
With Big Dave based in Canberra, Snoop in LA, producer Grantwho on the Gold Coast and engineer Sameer Sengupta (Ministry Of Sound) based in Sydney the quartet made use of the web and modern technology to create a single that captures the smooth vibe of Snoop Dogg, the Australian flavour of Big Dave and the bass driven hip hop house sound of Grantwho in a track that is truly The Original.
Big Dave’s debut album Self Made features the who’s who of iconic hip hop from Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Joel Ortiz (Slaughterhouse), Necro, WC, Kyza making Big Dave’s feature album a fan collective album not to be missed!!
The Original is scheduled for national radio service on Friday 29th March 2013 and available through MGM and all good music stores nationally on Thursday April 4 2013.
2012 was a year of firsts for KP Records – The first arena show (with Ice Cube), first Festival (with Tech N9ne, D12, Obie Trice and more) and it was also the year of the first commercial album release for the label after nearly 6 years establishing a name in the industry and cementing it’s place as the power house of Canberra hip hop.
That first album was Self Made the debut album from label founder Big Dave which went on to be played on over 160 commercial FM stations across the country. With that success came an ABC special (below), TV appearances, a multitude of radio interviews and features online, in magazines and in newspapers around Australia. Even hip hop icon Ice Cube got involved speaking about his pride in Big Dave’s achievements after coming from a background of prison and the street lifestyle.
Unlike many fellow “MC’s” Dave moved away from the tried and true method of the standard hip hop release by teaming up with KP producer Grantwho? and the KP roster to create an album that fused his raw hip hop roots with aspects of electro, house and RnB. The album also featured an international guest list unlike any Australian rap release before it with artist’s like Joell Ortiz, Kurupt, Necro, WC and Kyza all getting involved.
As we enter 2013 the snowball affect that is the career of Big Dave continues to gain momentum.
Melbourne’s own DJ Flagrant is a synonymous entity within Australia’s music scene. Candidly nicknamed The Business Man, Flagrant built his reputation over his decade of experience in the many components of the industry.
Australian born / US raised Nate Flagrant began the pursuit of his hip hop career in the early 90’s after seeing DMC competitor Alejan meticulously scratch and blend records at a rave in Nashville, Tennessee. Starting out on a single Sony turntable, Flagrant spent many sleepless nights perfecting his sound to replicate the DMC flavor that had influenced him. After returning to his hometown of Melbourne in 1999, it wasn’t long before Flagrant’s name became synonymous within Australia’s Hip-Hop music scene. Over the past decade Flagrant has been uniquely instrumental in the many components of the industry.
Having not only DJ’d all over the world supporting artists such as Wu Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Jurassic 5, Lyrics Born, Busta Rhymes, DJ Shadow, Method Man & Redman, Mark Ronson, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and DJ Premier, the exceptionally multifaceted talent has also put work in both the battle scene and club circuit, competing in the DMC (and placing second in the Team Category of the 2003 DMC National Finals) and bringing the I.T.F. World DJ Battle back to Australia in 2004.
Always at the forefront of DJ technology, Flagrant has been one of the first DJ’s in Australia to embrace video turntablism. With the help of video DJ software, Flagrant cuts, scratches and mashes music video’s, youtube videos and your favorite movies effortlessly and fluently before your very eyes.
His video remixes on YouTube have gathered a lot of interest worldwide with his channel gathering over 390,000+ views and has led to work for countless corporate clients and some of the countries most renowned entertainment venues. Most recently, Flagrant was invited to compete in the new RedBull Thre3Style DJ competition where he blew away the competition at the Melbourne final, taking away first prize – solidifying his position as one of Melbourne’s top party rocking DJ’s. Check out part’s 1 & 2 of DJ Flagrant’s latest Youtube sensation the Pool Cleaner Video Mix.
In news sure to thrill hip hop fans, Illusive are pleased to announce the return of hip hop heavyweight Xzibit to our shores in November. Xzibit marks his return to Australia after almost five years with a whirlwind tour that sees him cover 11 venues in a just over a fortnight. Alongside capital cities, X will grace Newcastle, Cairns, Townsville, Traralgon and Hobart for the first time ever.
Recognised as a true West Coast stalwart and ‘one of the most respected rappers in the game’ (Rolling Stone), Xzibit first came to public attention in the late ’90s with his debut album ‘At The Speed of Light’ (1996) and ‘40 Dayz & 40 Nightz’ (1998). He enjoyed his first major success when he joined with Snoop Dogg for the Dr. Dre produced hit Bitch Please. The Dre association continued with ‘What’s the Difference’, ‘Lolo’ and ‘Some L.A. Niggaz’ on Dre’s seminal Chronic 2001 album, which led to Xzibit’s inclusion on what is arguably the most infamous hip hop tour of all time – Up in Smoke, alongside the likes of Snoop, Eminem, and Ice Cube.
In the same year, Xzibit released ‘Restless’, which featured club anthems ‘X’ and ‘Get Your Walk On’, and was certified platinum in the US within a matter of weeks. In 2002, Xzibit followed this up with ‘Man vs. Machine’ – another huge commercial success, which featured the smash ‘Multiply’, and 2004’s ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’, featuring ‘Hey Now (Mean Muggin’)’.
Outside of the musical realm, Xzibit was – of course – the host of MTV’s wildly sucessful Pimp My Ride series from 2004 to 2007, which introduced his music to millions of new fans and made him a household name across the globe. In recent times, Xzibit is currently locked down in the studio at work on his highly anticipated comeback LP (due out in 2012).
Recognised as one of the most electrifying live hip-hop artists, with nearly two decades of classic material up his sleeve, Xzibit’s return to Australian shores promises to be a night to remember for the those that get their hands on tickets.
Xzibit – with special guests. Tickets on sale now! Check www.illusive.com.au/xzibit2011 for details Thu 24 Nov Fannys Nightclub, Newcastle, NSW 18+ Fri 25 Nov Trak Lounge Bar, Melbourne, VIC 18+ Sat 26 Nov Catalyst, Adelaide, SA 18+ Sun 27 Nov Brothers Leagues Club, Cairns, QLD 18+ Thu 1 Dec The Venue, Townsville, QLD 18+ Fri 2 Dec Metro City, Perth, WA 18+ Sat 3 Dec Pier Live, Frankston, VIC 18+ Thu 8 Dec Kay St. Ent. Complex, Traralgon, VIC 18+ Fri 9 Dec Derwent Ent. Centre, Hobart, TAS All Ages Sat 10 Dec Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW 18+ Special Guests – Bliss N Eso Sun 11 Dec Shooters Superclub, Gold Coast, QLD 18+
Since exploding onto the national scene a little over a year ago, the incomparable force that is Briggs immediately established himself as a formidable new presence in the local Hip Hop scene. From the moment Briggs dropped his self-released debut EP, the brilliant and groundbreaking Homemade Bombs (2009), it was obvious to everyone that this marked the arrival on the scene, of an emcee with a melodic rapid-fire approach, and a powerful and unique voice.
aahh: You talk about your hometown of Shepparton in a few of your tracks. What was the hip hop life like back in Shepp in the earlier days? Briggs: I still live in Shepp. Shepp life, shouts to the swiggaz wit attitude. I did a few years stint in melb, but I moved back to Bedrock a year or so ago now. I wrote the album here pretty much. But to answer the question of hip hop in shepparton, it was pretty much non-existent. Everyone played in punk/metal bands, all my mates, and my uncles played guitar too so I picked that up for a couple of years when I was a kid. I was always into hiphop though, i just never knew how to make it. I would rap but that’s as far as it would go, then when I got a computer and shepparton stepped out of the dark ages and we all got electricity and the internet from then on, the research was on!
aahh: Do you feel your indigenous roots have influenced your chosen art form of rhyme and in a sense story telling? Briggs: I guess it influences everything I do because it’s who I am, its me and I wear it proudly (on my forearms). I think I have a different perspective from a few others because I’ve seen and dealt with things that they will never have to, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
aahh: It’s been a massive last year and a half for yourself. Firstly lets talk about your self released debut EP Homemade Bombs. We hear a lot of emcees talking about how much knowledge they gained from their first drop, do you feel the same? Briggs: I learned a great deal, I dealt with everything for that release, I was the marketing-managing-artist-autobot-all-round-good-guy. I made all the calls, put them in all the stores. At shows I had troops selling them for me, but in the beginning i did all the work. I mean it was natural for me to hustle my product, because in reality, if I didn’t I couldn’t eat at the next show. And I believed what I had was a dope release. But I think I learned a lot more with The Blacklist though, just being on that next level. And I’m sure I’ll learn even more off the next release, basically if you’re not learning your either not paying attention or you’re an idiot.
aahh: You had an amazing chance to tour with the Hilltop Hoods in Europe, what was that like? Briggs: That was probably the best thing I’ve done, ever. Going over seas with your mates and being given an opportunity not everyone will have, playing sellout international shows, is probably the highlight of my career so far. I had never been over seas before and pretty much hadn’t left Victoria, so it was a big jump in the deep end.
aahh: A few weeks ago you dropped your first LP on GE Records, The Blacklist. How did the build up compare to your EP? Briggs: Well it was just larger scale, everything was amped up 1000%. I didn’t have to stress about getting it in street press or ringing editors/writers to review it. The big difference was just the convenience in how things work now, GE have all the connects and things are ready to roll, interviews, reviews and so on.
aahh: The Blacklist staunched in at #14 on the ARIA charts and has had people raving, did you expect such a massive response? Briggs: I didn’t expect that at all. And for 4 days it sat at number #3 on the iTunes hiphop charts, which I didn’t expect either, Ice Cube knocked me off. It was a great feeling, because all in all, I made the record I wanted to make. There’s nothing on there that isn’t me. I chose the beats I wrote the rhymes I put it together. Of course with the extensive help of my GE fam, but that goes without saying. But at the end of the day its my name and my idea, so it was dope that people were feeling it.
aahh: On an album full of highlights do you have any personal favorites from The Blacklist? Briggs: It’s hard to choose because I haven’t got to kick them all live yet but lately ‘The Checklist’ and ‘Gargantuan’ have been getting a work out. ‘Game On’ is up there and I like my collabs with Trials and the Hoods too.
aahh: The Blacklist was the final name of the album, did you have any others in mind? Briggs: I had ‘The Gospel According to Briggs’ on my EP, that’s just because I needed to put something there for people to look out for. It never really had another name, or working title, it was just in a folder called ‘NEW RECORD’ then I changed that folders name and the rest is history. It sounded cool… And I often found myself banned from certain places. There’s not a whole lot of depth to the name.
aahh: The lead track from the album ‘The Wrong Brother’ is an absolute banger, accompanied by a brilliant film clip. Are there any plans for another clip for a track off the album? Briggs: I certainly hope so. Trials and I have a great idea for ‘So Dangerous’. But nothing is confirmed so far.
aahh: Soon Australia will see Ice Cube tour and you’ve been named as the support, are you looking forward to this? Briggs: Ice Cube has been my favourite rapper since I was a kid, so im definitely excited for the opportunity to gain some more fans and share the same bill with a legend of that calibre.
aahh: Aside from hip hop, we hear you’re a bit of a Lakers fan? Briggs: Love the Lakers. Phil and Kobe are taking us to the 3 peat. Fuck Miami and fuck Boston. Also a massive Bombers fan, the messiah Hird has returned to windy hill, his hair is still golden and we’ll reign down sulfur on the infidels, so fuck the pies and fuck Carlton.
aahh: Final thoughts and comments, album launch? Briggs: Thank you to everyone who picked up the record and if you haven’t picked it up, go have a listen. I’ll be out and about with Jaytee and Eloquor on the Ice Cube tour and ill be around again with Drapht in December.
The Wrong Brother Single – Out Now grab it here. Briggs debut album The Blacklist – Out Now grab it here.
