With his distinctive and widely beloved baritone voice, Chali 2na has established himself not only as one of hip-hop’s preeminent and charismatic personalities, but has also garnered renowned praise as a highly respected artist across a myriad of mediums. His latest project, Against The Current, a 5 EP series that will be released throughout the next year.
Breathing new life into his musical past, the project’s sound is heavily influenced by his history; from the blues music he was raised on and the hip-hop he produced as a member of Jurassic 5, to the urban-Latin music he created with Ozomatli and his love for performing live. Each EP will be a fusion of these experiences, and also include Chali’s trademark spitfire rhymes.
Early access to Against The Current can be pre-ordered through his PledgeMusic campaign, head here to download the first of the Against The Current EP’s in its entirety absolutely free, along with exclusive and private videos, incentive packages, and one-of-a-kind art pieces created by Chali 2na.
This campaign will produce an illustrious coffee table book that will reveal the evolution of his artistic skills; from his days as graf-writing vandal, thru his growing addiction to photography, to his present day oil-paint works.
Hailing from Hobart mdusu (pronounced muh-DOO-soo) or MD or Duse, is one of Tasmania’s premier hip hop artists. Since his first live performance as an MC in 2003, the MC/producer has built himself a reputation Australia-wide for quality recordings and raucous live shows, a feat which is all the more remarkable considering the isolation of his home town.
In just a few short years, he has performed alongside acts such as De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Jungle Brothers, Z-Trip, Swollen Members, The Herd, Drapht, Funkoars, Muph & Plutonic etc. and can even lay claim to having shared a stage with Wolfmother (before the Grammy). MD has also performed at every major music festival in Tasmania’s history (the Basin Concert, Gone South, the Southern Roots & Blues Festival, Soundscape & the Falls Festival), and has been a performer on over 10 albums as either a solo artist or band member since 1998.
MD is also an accomplished producer, having laced beats for almost every MC in Tasmania during his 10 plus-years as a beatmaker. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, mdusu has spent more than half his life playing various instruments in live ensembles, and has toured Australia & around the Pacific Islands as far as Hawaii, playing many different styles of music.
Electric Sky is the new EP from MD, featuring six instrumentals, no sample loops – made entirely from one-shot drums & synths. This ‘pay what you want‘ release is on some future-soul shit and is available now through Tape Death’s Bandcamp page. Check it out.
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.
Hailing from Hobart – Australia’s southern-most capital city, mdusu (pronounced muh-DOO-soo) is one of Tasmania’s premier hip hop artists. Since his first live performance as an emcee in 2003, the MC/producer has built himself a reputation Australia-wide for quality recordings and raucous live shows, a feat which is all the more remarkable considering the isolation of his home town. In just a few short years, he has performed alongside acts such as De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Jungle Brothers, Z-Trip, Swollen Members,The Herd, Drapht, Funkoars, Muph & Plutonic etc. and can even lay claim to having shared a stage with Wolfmother (before the Grammy). Mdusu has also performed at every major music festival in Tasmania’s history (the Basin Concert, Gone South, the Southern Roots & Blues Festival, Soundscape & the Falls Festival), and has been a performer on over 10 albums as either a solo artist or band member since 1998.
As an emcee, mdusu earned his stripes through the freestyle & battle scenes, winning countless emcee battles across Tasmania, and performing solidly in battles across Melbourne. His lyrical skill has gained him respect amongst the leaders of the Australian hip hop scene, and has led to collaborations with many artists from around the world. mdusu is also an accomplished producer, having laced beats for almost every emcee in Tasmania during his 10 plus-years as a beatmaker. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, mdusu has spent more than half his life playing various instruments in live ensembles, and has toured Australia & around the Pacific Islands as far as Hawaii, playing many different styles of music.
In 2007, he produced two tracks for The Tongue’s debut, “Shock & Awe”, and supplied a verse to super-producer Chasm for his 2008 smash debut LP, “Beyond the Beat Tape”. The following year saw him drop verses on Dialectrix’s debut smash “Cycles of Survival”, and Astronomy Class’ second album “Pursuit of Happiness”, which was nominated for the “Best Urban/Hip Hop” Album of the 2009 ARIA awards. mdusu also produced a track for Obese Records’ signing Skryptcha on the DJ Flagrant-mixed mixtape “Who’s Got Next”.
In May 2008, mdusu and Tasmanian DJ Dameza released their groundbreaking sophomore LP, Can we get a soul clap? On May 10th (distributed by Obese Records). The album was picked up by Triple J, and helped mdusu&dameza become one ofTriple J’s Next Crop artists for 2008, an honour which is only bestowed upon 30 artists of all genres across Australia. The album was also made the Triple J Hip Hop Show “Album of the Week” (June 9th-15th).
In February 2009, mdusu embarked on his biggest challenge to date, to raise money for victims of the Victorian Bushfire: A 12-hour non-stop Freestyle Marathon. Not only did he manage this incredible and never-before tried feat, he raised over $1300 in the process, and set an unofficial world record (longest continuous freestyle rap) in the process.
After relocating to the Gold Coast for family reasons in July 2009, mdusu released his solo debut, “The Excess Baggage Mixtape” (available below) – which has over 500 downloads in just two weeks, and is currently putting together his debut solo producer album, which features some Australia’s best emcee’s, singers & DJs.
My new album is going to be the first solo effort I’ve ever done – all my previous stuff has been group stuff, so I’m excited as to take the leap of faith by myself, and see what happens. I’ve been working on it for about a year and a half now, and I’m just up to the stage of getting verses back from people and mixing the whole thing. Not sure if I’m going to approach any labels about it yet, but ideally I’ll be able to work out a licensing deal for release. Guests include: Muph, Solo, Louis Logic, Dialectrix, Jeswon of Thundamentals, Ozi Batla, Skryptcha, BVA, Scott Burns, Roshambo, The Tongue, Patto, Haunts of Choose Mics, Homebrew (NZ), Thorts, Class A, Syntax, Prime, Purpose, & Rigby, so it’s a real collaborative effort. It’s gonna be called Ex-Samples, and I’ll be handling all the production, so it’s a pretty massive undertaking.
Discography:
2010 – The Excess Baggage Mixtape – all verses and arrangement
2009 – Astronomy Class – Pursuit Of Happiness – Verse on “War Of The Worlds”
2009 – Who Got Next Mixtape – Production on Skryptcha “For You”
2008 – Dialectrix – Cycles of Survival – Verse on “The Takeover”
2008 – mdusu&dameza – can we get a soul clap? – Verses & all production
2008 – Chasm – Beyond The Beat Tape – Verse on “Cop a Lesson”
2008 – Unleash The Nugget – The Illustrated Guide to… EP – Drums & percussion
2007 – The Tongue – Shock & Awe – Production on “That Word” & “The Blues”
2007 – Heads of State – Making The Best Of What We’ve Got – Verses & all production
2006 – mdusu&dameza – sounds from our town – verses & all production
