Just Kidding, I actually think this is pretty awesome.

Soul Mate Records home to 360 and Pez and by have signed a licensing deal With EMI AUS. This is a pretty big step for Australian Hip Hop with local produce having been shunned by the majors for years. Sure there have been other signings but generally they weren’t let’s say “scene established”. A licensing deal generally means the record label gets a set fee in exchange for manufacturing, promoting and distribution. It can also mean if there’s a bucket load of album sale that they get a major chunk of the spin, if not all of it. It is no secret that Majors and even Independents have cottoned on to the increase in touring value as well. But it works both ways, will they have more festivals to play their festivals songs at? Will there music actually improve cause they can concentrate on it without worrying about how they are going to pay rent next week?
I think so and with 360’s new album Falling and Flying due later this year, it will be pretty interesting to see if that’s actually true.

You can check a couple of tracks from 360’s upcoming records here http://www.myspace.com/emcee360 – Oh Yeah, Licensing deals often differ greatly. So that’s just a general guide for those that aren’t aware. SoulMate could be something totally different. they might answer your questions here soulmaterecords.wordpress.com

Some interesting pics from the 2009 Zulu Nation Anniversary gig. Pics are by Charlie Ahern. You should probably go to his website http://www.wildstylethemovie.com/ and buy some shit off him.

Click on the image to see more pics. You may need to login to Facebook to view.

Looking good Excel!

Anyone looking for an MPC? Up for grabs on ebay is Melburn’s MC Tornts from Hired Goons MPC. If you ask nicely he might even sign it for you.

http://tinyurl.com/yde4pm5

From an eager teenager taping shows from underground radio, to a DJ of world standing, the last five years have seen Australian spinner DJ Perplex soar. Set for the release of volume 2 in his ultra-fly ‘Digital Killed The Vinyl Star’ Mixtape series, Perplex has also been enlisted as the spokesperson for new Nintendo DS game ‘DJ Star’.

Having made a name for himself by taking out the Australian DMC title in 3 consecutive years, then going on to claim 7th place at the world finals in London late 2008, Perplex has established himself as an in-demand DJ, regularly playing the hottest clubs and festivals across Australia, Asia and Europe.

More than just playing record after record, Perplex’s highly evolved Turntablist skills play an integral part in his DJ show, as he mixes Electro, with Soul, Funk, Hip Hop and Baltimore, with layers of atmospheric undercurrents. The result is a genre-bridging mash-up style that is as original in its delivery as it is eclectic.

Approached by Madman Interactive to be the ambassador for their new game ‘DJ Star’, Perplex only needed to play the game once and he was hooked. Simulating life as a vinyl slinger, DJ Star challenges the player to mix together over 40 available tracks, with the objective of getting the crowd dancing and reaching the dizzy heights of world stardom. You can even create your own dance floor destroyer. The more people you get up dancing, the more points you win. With 200 unique audio samples to draw from, players can create tracks in the ‘Creation Studio’, bringing them into the game or share them with friends via the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection.

To officially launch ‘Digital Killed The Vinyl Star – vol 2’ and ‘DJ Star’, a special Melbourne event is happening at First Floor on Friday 23rd October. Perplex will be playing for 2 hours alongside his hand picked local lineup of B.Two (Simply Bread), Mu-Gen (Slap n Dash), Scattermish (Slap n Dash) and Who (The Late Show). To add some more sugar to the mix, there will also be a massive door prize and copies of ‘DJ Star’ given away throughout the night thanks to Madman Interactive.

Not sure why I am posting this Press Release at all cause nobody has sent me a Nintendo DS and I normally hating the arse raping corperates so let’s call it a one off.

Where: First Floor, Fitzroy
When: Friday 23rd October
Doors: From 9PM
What: A night of superb DJing and loads of giveaways!
Tickets: $10 on the door

OG Turnatablist, DJ ROC RAIDA of the X-Ecutioners passed away Friday, following complications from an accident during a Martial Arts session. Roc Raida was one of the first turntablists to visit our shores and I remember that gig in Albert Park like it was yesterday. RIP The Legendary Grand Master Roc Raida.

From his management …

Anthony Williams known to the world as The Legendary Grand Master Roc Raida has passed away unexpectedly today Sept 19 2009. Raida was recently in an mixed martial arts accident. Although he had under gone 2 surgeries with great success, in a rehab center and was in great spirits the past few days. This morning he started to have complications and passed. The family asks for privacy at this time.

Fans can visit his Myspace page here http://www.myspace.com/rocraida.

Revolver Upstairs, McKenna Bourban and Triple R are proud to present the 11th Annual Revolver MC Comp.

Eleven years of unsurpassed talent battling their skills for a heavyweight title that has been held by such greats as The Tongue (NSW), Bias B (VIC), Justice (VIC) and Delta (SA).

The winner prize pack is valued at over $8,000, and consists of cash plus a flight voucher, goods from sponsors including McKenna Bourban, Revolver Upstairs, Triple R, All Of The Above, Burn Crew, Chapel Tattoo, Colonel Tan’s, Factory Sound, Final Outline, Fur, Implant, Inpress, Madman, Obese, Ozhiphop, Razor Paint, Seven Milligram and Sneaker Freaker.

On the night the MC Comp will be hosted by legendary Aussie rapper Bias B, with beats supplied by the legendary DJ Ransom.  So head down on Thursday 17th September to Revolver Upstairs and support the battle with doors opening at 8pm.

You think you’ve got it?  Well we want to hear what you’ve got, and so do the judges. If you are interested in entering the Comp download a form from www.revolverupstairs.com.au, or fill one in at Revolver Upstairs, 3RRR or Obese Records. Revolver, McKenna Bourban and
Triple R presenting the Aussie hip hop MCs of the future!

Thursday September 17 at Revolver, Chapel St, Prahran

It is a great thing when an artists goes from an EP to a LP and shows progression and creativity and two years on from the well received ‘Coffee, Biros and Death’ Requiem has done just this with ‘Grassroots Anarchy’.

The ten track offering displays a defiant, angry young man that is using hip hop as his outlet to show his frustrations with the society we dwell in. Defiant dishes up the intro and the leading track ‘Apeshit!’ (listen to this track below) as Requiem attacks the industry and politics involved and why it makes him go this way.

Straight away you can notice his flow and voice are not your usual clear concise, there are certain lines and words that at first sound a little rushed but they work within his style and different verse structures.

A reflective hip hop influence track with a twist is offered on ‘Counter Culture’ as fakes are called out for the music they supposedly rep and Req tells us exactly what he listened to with a few surprises in there over a funky Wizard beat.

Req has stepped up his flow and presence on the mic, growing from his previous work and obviously taking advice and learning his own style to a more comfortable level when he is spitting. This is shown on tracks such as ‘Pacifist’s Dilemma’ produced by Doc Felix, and ‘Linephile Confessions’ produced by Pabstrakt.

Req has also stepped up on a story telling vibe with ‘The Violence of Love’, a tale of revolutionary Oscar Romero and also on his own personal tale in ‘It’s Getting Late’. Guest spots are kept to a minimum but at an effective level on the gritty ‘Street Journalists’ featuring Fluent Form and Maundz and produced by Ciecmate, raw.

To be honest I was not the biggest fan of ‘Coffee, Biros and Death’ and I was hoping this would rise above it. Not only did it rise above but it blew it the fuck out of the water. It has a vibe to the whole product which you get into. There is an air of anger with reason that works and the beat selection and topical matter sits well with Req’s delivery and style. Definitely worth a look.

By Gareth M

Requiem Grassroots Anarchy is available now from the usual outlets or gab it online here

Requiem – Apeshit! by requiem

“Talking shit with a hero of yours, that’s a good vibe,
As good as the first time you saw Hilltop Hoods live”

The first time I saw Hilltop Hoods live was way back in 2001 (when most of you probably didn’t even know Australian Hip-Hop existed). It was the album launch for Left Foot, Right Foot at Cherry Bar in ACDC Lane – a venue that holds about five people. How far they have come since then, playing to thousands at sold out shows, and tens of thousands at festivals in Australia and around the world.

I have gone to a majority of the shows the Hoods have played in Melbourne over the years, including the Big Day Out and the massive Stopping All Stations Tour at Festival Hall, as well as two or three of the phenomenal four sell-out nights in a row at the Corner Hotel in 2004.

So did I enjoy this show as much as all the others? Well to be honest, no, not really. It was the same hits from the previous two albums that I’ve already seen a number of times before, with the addition of songs from the latest album, which besides Chase That Feeling (in my opinion one of, if not the greatest hip hop song to come out of this country) I’m just not really feeling.

It was great to see Chase That Feeling live, but aside from that, I spent the most part more in awe of seeing the huge crowd all getting into it. While the show itself I could take or leave, seeing three guys from back in the day rocking the stage, and thousands of adoring fans singing along to their songs and loving every minute of it, is a fantastic thing to see. We’ve come a long way from Cherry Bar…

And the atmosphere really was amazing, with the Hoods performing with the same energy as they always have. They are consummate performers, and second to none in this country.

If you’ve seen the Hoods before, you don’t need a review to tell you about their show because you already know how awesome the Hoods are live.

And if you haven’t…well, you’re missing out on a good vibe.

By Patrick Ho

Image provided by Kez Photography.

State of The Art is availble now, well, everywhere.  For those after a copy of this on vinyl,  it is now availble for a whopping $100.00. You might want to call a head before heading down to your local record store because chances are they aren’t stocking it and you will need to pre-order. I have no idea why it is so expensive but apparently it’s been blessed by a pope and the wax is actually made from the tears of small children. Ed

THORTS INTERVIEW

G FORCE (G): Congrats on your recent release Bleeding Heart Muzik. The album is a very personal piece of work, how long was it in the works for and do you think it took you longer because it was on that tip?

THORTS (T): Thanks bro, a few of the tracks on this album were originally Mankind tracks and there are a couple that are actually remixes by different producers. I worked on this album at the same time as I was wrapping up other projects and collabs and then once the music part was done all the other shit took time you know, I wanted to plan it out and make it the best release I could, I didn’t want to rush it and just get it out there like my other releases, I wanted to put everything I had into this release and making sure it got out there and heard.

G: I will admit to following your hip hop development closely as I enjoyed the old radio frees, Field Trip, Mankind and other Hungry Humans projects and I commented once that this is exactly where I thought your debut release would sit. Do you think this was a natural progression in your style as a solo artist?

T: Word! Yeh me and my crew use to always spit live on pbs the formula back in 1999-2001, those were some fun days back then, it’s a shame we never put anything out back then though it would have been fresh! Well actually me and Dan Murphy made a cassette under the name “The Alliance” the tape was called Blak Calix but it would be very hard to find now. I have changed a lot since then though, I was a teenager and on drugs so what I rapped about back then and what I rap about now are 2 totally different things. I progressed as a person first, through life experience, getting my life in order, having a family, working hard, so yeh of coarse this came through into my music as well.

G: From these older days we saw acts such as Lost Souls and yourself in Field Trip yet we have not seen anything new from either duo only solo releases from Raven with Humble Beginnings and now yourself. Why not a full length Field Trip and what made you as a solo artist keep pushing to put out product?

T: Well basically, me and 86 live two separate lives, we recorded the Field Trip ep when I was living in Melbourne, but after moving to Geelong 86 had a family and focused more on being a father than making music and I focused more on solo tracks, we basically went our separate ways, music wise, the last track we did together was in 2007 absolute obselenc which I think is on the Field Trip myspace page. I think also we have different tastes in music and what we wanted to do so I decided to branch out and work with different producers and try different things, where still good friends but just work on our own thing, As for Lost Souls I think it’s pretty much the same story although I’m not sure if Budsa is working on anything at the moment but I know Raven is always hard at work.

G: You are influenced greatly by artists that you enjoy and seem extremely passionate about hip hop. What are your current thoughts on the Aus scene and hip hop in general?

T: Hip Hop is alive and well! Real hip hop is FAR from dead; you just have to know where to look! I am inspired mostly by American artists that I listen to and work with people like Pigeon John, Brother Ali, Atmosphere, Escape Artists, Sontiago, Living Legends etc there is so much good hip hop around but I suppose everyone has there own taste with what they like, I just like real, innovative, creative, blue collar sorta stuff. As for the Australian scene, there’s only a few artists that really interest me, I really like Subsketch, Crixus, Morgan Macmanus, all of my mates of coarse haha but yeh there’s not too much I can relate to really, not really my sound, I really just focus on creating my own music, I guess that’s why I don’t have a similar sound to any other artists in this country.

G: There is a range of production credits on the album yet a similar vibe and sound throughout the whole lot. How did you go about selecting producers, beats and how heavily did having a ‘concise, complete sounding album’ weight into this?

T: The producers I worked with on this album are all friends of mine, which is great, I basically just wrote to beats I dug and beats I dig usually gel together nicely, I am very happy with the way they work together, I dint think they would gel that easy haha.

G: Lyrically throughout the album there is a similar personal vibe. Be it through story telling or a first person perspective there is a heavy dose of honesty and emotion in there. Are these tales closed books now and what will we hear from Thorts in future rhymes?

T: Is life a closed book? Unfortunately I never really learn from all my mistakes haha I write what I feel at the time, there’s no great story really to why I write, it’s just whatever i’m going through at the time, my music is more like a journal entry, so unless I had a crystal ball I couldn’t really tell you exactly what to expect, all I can say is I will be working with some dope international producers and mc’s and my overall sound will just keep getting bigger and better!

G: Does it bother you at all that you may be pigeonholed as an ‘emotional emcee’ or similar tags and people may not peep your music because of this when obviously there is a lot more to it than just that aspect?

T: Well the only bad thing about being pigeonholed is that yeh some people might not check my music, I know that if people at least got to hear my music then they might open up to it but as for being labeled as an emotional mc haha I couldn’t care less, being real to yourself and expressing what you feel is called being a human, people do this day to day so I do it in my music. I’m not gonna be one person in real life then a totally different person on the mic, there are mc’s that do that shit and it’s not for me, It is what it is, I am who I am.

G: Your partner Kadyelle is also an emcee. Are you guys going to release anything together and how much opinions and influence do you have on each others content?

T: Me and Kady have tracks together on her upcoming releases. She has an ep with Fathom (u.s.a) and a full length album titled “silence the piano” they both should be out later in the year. At the moment we have songs together on her stuff and mine but nothing in set in concrete about doing an album together, I think my brother Esvee is first on that list! Basically we listen to the same music and share our lives together so in that aspect we have lots of the same influences but when it comes to writing and recording we do our own thing, don’t sleep on Kadyelle! She is diggity dope!

G: You have moved around a bit the past few years and had some life changes, did this impact on the topics you were writing about and put hip hop to the background a bit?

T: Well I have only had one move in the last 6 years so it hasn’t impacted me greatly creatively but yeh life changes, I have had a huge life change recently with the arrival of our little boy Isaiah Malekai and moving over to Bunbury w.a with my family that has definitely put my music on hold for a little bit, just trying to find myself here and get settled with a good job which I still haven’t done yet but once that is done im sure I will be able to get stuck into my music again.

G: You and Esvee vibe really well on the album and on past works and live shows as well. Any thing in the works with him and why we are on the topic what is next for Thorts?

T: Yeh me and Esvee first met back in 2005 at a show in Geelong, since then we have been best mates and made heaps of dope tracks together. He is a dope mc and a great person in general. His music is much like mine but he still has a distinct feel to his music that makes him heaps different. We gel together nicely and I hope to work on an ep or album with him sometime in the future. At the moment I am working slowly on a free digital ep with the help from Sydney producer Proph 1 who has some amazing beats! The ep is mostly filled with features with artists such as Reach (u.s.a), 1/6 (melbs), 7ravesty & Rival (Brizzy), Kadyelle, Marksman (Perth) & Morgan Macmanus (Canada/Brizzi), I’m just making this for fun and the chance to work with different artists while I’m trying to settle down. After that I have a couple of albums to work on with 2 different producers and some dope international and oz hip hop mc’s which I am really looking forward to, but that’s all I am going to say about those for now, Oh Kadyelle will also have a new clip up very soon and we will also have a clip together, both clips are for tracks off her new album so make sure you peep them once there up and if you haven’t peeped my new clip for my track “into the wind” then go have a look now!

G: A few tracks such as Sleep at Night are predominately made up of singing. I thought at times it was a bit of overload on something that I thought worked well with hooks. Can you tell us more about this style and the importance of these varied styles of hip hop to your music?

T: Well I am influenced by artists who do what they want when they want no matter what people think or say so I do the same. I sing songy hip hop so if that’s the feeling or vibe I get off the beat and that’s what I want to do then I do it. I know I don’t have a great singing voice but I enjoy doing it, that’s it!

G: There are quite a few lines spread across the album that I replay and really think they are poetic, not just a hip hop lyric. Do you explore other facets of art and rhyming such as poetry?

T: I don’t write poems as such but when I write I try to write in a way that’s poetic and not just straight up rhyming, I like to push myself to write differently each track, make it interesting you know, I think it’s most evident in my track “when it’s all been said and done” I really sat down with that one and though about what I was writing and how I was writing it and I will be doing this a lot more in the future with my new music too.

G: Thanks heaps mate. I really enjoyed the album and I think it is a solid piece of work. Any final shout outs, thank yous and the like?

T: No worries bro, glad you enjoy the release! I just want to say that I aint going nowhere! Music is my life and I will be doing this till the day I die! Peace

THORTS SOLO ALBUM – BLEEDING HEART MUZIK Is availble NOW in all good record stores. Featuring Esvee, Crixus, Class A, DJ Bogues, Amber, Mata, Must, JP, 1/6, Urban Monk & J.Waters plus production by Crixus, Saint Surly, Crytearia, Must, Simple Simon & Geko.

http://www.myspace.com/thortsthescorpion

Please show some support for this tour if you are keen to see Tech out here!

More reviews and interviews coming soon. Sorry I have been slack as fuck.

With much speculation over the past few months about the future of Obese Records and Hilltop Hoods relationship, It looks like fans can put there worries aside as it looks like Hilltops have found a new home at Golden Era Records. While there was no public announcement from either parties it looks like they have parted ways mutually. Obese will continue with it’s rostered acts less Hoods, Funkoars and Downsyde and focus on Spit Syndicate,Muph and Plutonic and Pegz of course I am sure there will be more up and comers in the works.

It appears Hilltop Hoods have gone back to basics and started there own records label. But can anyone really be surprised by this? It looks like the Oars will now be signed to this label as well. Time will only tell how these fellas progress. But I think it is safe to say they won’t have any problems having gained a vast amount of experience over the last few years and knocking heads with world artists. The hoods recently played at the Glastonbury festival in the Uk alongside a shit load of other big acts I can’t be bothered looking up at the moment.

Visit the new Hoods online home here – Golden Era Records http://www.goldenerarecords.com.au/