Is Kerser the King of Australia’s Underground?

After less than a year’s break from touring, Kerser has once again lit up venues around Australia. With fellow ABK-225 rapper Jay UF in tow and now Discourse (Crate Cartel) on the decks, this was a tour not to miss. The heads from allaussiehiphop.com rolled along to the final show of the King Tour, which was held in Adelaide last weekend.

With a mammoth list of local supports including emcee Lariken, The Kid, and youngster Godfrey A.G.A.L.A. the night was primed for some dope hip hop. Kerser played tracks from his past few albums plus a host of new material from his latest album King. Kerser and crew pulled out all the stops for the last show of the tour, performing a full 20 minutes over his allotted time. Proclaiming to the crowd “fuck the time, this is the last show of the tour”.

After 4 albums, numerous tours, a beef with 360 plus a whole heap of controversy, Kerser continues to dominate the underground with his unique style and presence. We look back to when Kerser first dropped his debut album, The Nebulizer. It was an LP that quickly catapulted him into the spotlight. As an album, The Nebulizer was packed with immaturity, drug use and an attitude of “not giving a fuck”. Something that a lot of fans had been hungry for after years of political themed raps and artists chasing that triple j sound.

Kerser captured the minds of many young fans, this in-turn lead to a bunch of criticism from older and more established artists. The criticism was mainly directed at Kerser’s glorification of the drugs, more specifically Ice. Admittedly there was an amount of that there, but these were stories of real life people and the role that this drug played in their lives.

Within the next year Kerser followed up The Nebulizer with another LP in the form of No Rest For The Sickest. A more mature album, Kerser quickly expanded on his themes and content, pushing it outside of the club and back on to the streets. Tracks from that album focused on Kerser and his day to day challenges. This was a critical time in Kerser’s career, tracks from the album were blowing up and heads weren’t yet sure if he was someone who could really pave a path for hip hop in Australia or if he was just ‘faking it until he made it’. It wasn’t long before it all became clear.

Another year passed and Kerser dropped S.C.O.T, this time a more personal album, dealing with issues of fame, popularity and a life that has been truly turned upside down by money and change. With the release of S.C.O.T, more and more fans jumped on the ABK train. Looking at the comment section of any one of Kerser’s many YouTube videos, you’ll find a litany of comments now understanding the rappers motives.

Kerser quickly became a phenomenon in the rap scene, amassing millions of views on his YouTube channel, charting with most of his albums and DVD release’s, and selling out national tours along the way. With the release of his latest album King, Kerser continues to dominate his chosen path.

With the his sights set on 10 albums in 10 years, Kers has already made significant inroads towards that goal. We’ve seen proof over the past 4 albums that Kerser has no problem evolving throughout each of his albums. This begs the question, what’s next for Kerser? With talks off an ABK-225 label not too far off, and an apparent 6 more albums to come in 6 years, whatever the future holds for Kerser, it’s sure to be a busy one. He was once known as The Sickest, but now Kerser has his sights set firmly on the throne.