Settle, we’re back…

After a massive holiday period, where we barley had enough time to blow the froth off a few coldies, the dope new music had already begun flooding in. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll do our best to catch up on all the  tracks, albums, videos, and music news that’s broken or has been released since we’ve been away. 2014 was a massive year for hip hop in Australia, and already 2015 is looking the goods.

Kicking things off for 2015, is the brand new release from Crate Cartel’s very own Phil Gektor. A.W.O.L 2.0 is a remix album of AZ’s A.W.O.L album from 2005. AZ was once a major label artist, he eventually abandoned this path as he “wanted it to be all street’. The A.W.O.L. LP was the first AZ album to be released on his own Quiet Money Records imprint. In the couple of months following that release, A.W.O.L. 1.5 dropped, which included a bonus disc featuring acappella and instrumental versions of all the tracks.

Geko has now remixed 12 tracks from the original album, adding his own spin and flavor to a release that featured tracks produced by Heatmakerz, DJ Premier and more. A feat which many other producers may find a daunting or imposing task. 

As we rolled toward the end of 2014 every man and his dog published their lists of ‘Artists To Watch Out for in 2015’, now a lot of these lists included a host of new artists, pushed by various outlets and management groups all hustling for that illustrious triple j ‘play*’ (*say fame).

In the lists we actually read, we noticed a similar formula had been used. That is, list artists with large social followings and ones that have the ability to generate large page views. Which in turn generates large advertising revenue for these outlets. 

This equals a bullshit ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ type relationship. These lists, rarely take into account actual music, skill or creativity of the particular artists mentioned. Even if they have, the list makers pushing these artists are generally rock or EDM reporters, taking advantage of hip hops current popularity. It’d almost be like a car salesman telling you how good the latest surfboard is going to be and why it’s going to revolutionise the industry. Something just doesn’t sit right with that equation.We are not huge fans of these type of masturbatory lists. With the ever present commercialisation of our genre it just seems to muddy the waters a little.  

Out of all of the lists we did read, we rarely seen this name marked down, This artist had a massively exciting 2014, and 2015 could only promise bigger and better things to come. We’re talking about Crate Cartel’s very own… Phil Gektor.

His latest effort, A.W.O.L 2.0 comes off the back of various killer drops throughout 2014. The Hippies EP, released in early 2014 almost marked a new direction and presentation of the Crate Cartel artist. This was quickly cemented by The Real Heads Don’t Listen LP, which was released midway through 2014. The RHDL LP was delivered as a complete package. From the music to the artwork, it was stocked with character and originality. He then followed up with the ‘Beat, Blends & Remixes Vol. 1’ mixtape, which was exclusively released on allaussiehiphop.com. Capping off the year perfectly, Geks then teamed up with fellow Crate Cartel member Flu to drop one of the hottest EP’s form last year with ‘Classics’. Phil Gektor has thrown away old ideas and built something special upon his new found musical confidence. Time to edit those lists?

The brand new AZ x Phil Gektor A.W.O.L. 2.0 album is available now as a name your price download by following the links below.

Let us know some of the artists you think will have massive 2015’s, and if we agree we’ll highlight the artist/artists in an upcoming article right here on allaussiehiphop.com. We’ll also shoutout the commentators who have selected the artists. You can do that below in the comment section below or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook. 

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