Aussie Hip Hop is Dead!

[NCR600]

Dead I tell ya!

Went to "Sounds in the Grounds" tonight and it sucked.

Not because of any lack of quality from the local acts (The Tongue and Urthboy were standouts) but it would seem that Aussie HipHop is now mainstream.

The crowd were the biggest bunch of suburbanite douchebag Nova listeners ever. The whole "festival" had the vibe of a bad teenage party where the stereo had been taken over by hiphop heads, but no-one could care less.

The downstairs "rock" stage was even worse. Wolf and Cub were the standout act there, but again, very few people in the crowd really gave a shit. Even less "got" them.

Compared to my last hiphop show (Elefant Tracks Xmas Party 06) tonight's show was a total downer and to be honest, I'll think twice before lending my support to the Australian Hip Hop scene again.

Hell, I even went to the trouble of pre-ordering my tickets, yet had to line up with the door sales to get in. What a friggin' farce!

 

[gravelclimber]

Aussie hip hop was never that alive (apart from Resin Dogs) IMO. No originality and too little musicianship. There's probably heaps I haven't heard, but from what I have heard the producers aren't that great. No Aussie RZAs or Stoops. No one doing anything different like Aesop Rock. All derivative.

Not that any of that doesn't mean some good stuff isn't to come in the future.

 

[NCR600]

Aussie hip hop was never that alive (apart from Resin Dogs) IMO. No originality and too little musicianship. There's probably heaps I haven't heard, but from what I have heard the producers aren't that great. No Aussie RZAs or Stoops. No one doing anything different like Aesop Rock. All derivative.

Not that any of that doesn't mean some good stuff isn't to come in the future.

Yeah, but very few are doing anything like Aesop Rock (or MF Doom, or Dr Octagon or Buss Driver or Pigeon John or ...) anywhere.

I've been vaguely following Aus HipHop since the mid 90's and it's just struck me tonight that it's become totally mainstream, and to be honest not through any fault of the artists (my missus had The Tongue bailed up for a while and they had a good old chat)

Just that the crowd tonight seemed almost totally un interested in the music, except for the well known songs. Hilltop Hoods were at the Aria's for christsakes! (I met them at a party in Melbourne a few years before "The Calling" through a music journo mate)

Maybe it's me. The artists aren't doing anything much different to what they've always been doing. Just seems that nowadays they're attracting lots of idiots to shows. I hope they all gt rich from it, but in future they won't be getting rich off me.

 

[Tristan23]

It's got to be taken in a new direction now. People are over the 'Where I came from, what I went though, how gangster i am' lyrics. Well, at least everyone I speak to.

HipHop originated with that stuff in the predominantly African American suburbs of America. And like most other Australian music it's just been imported. I think for Aus HipHop to stand out it's got to blur and meld some genres together. Mix shit which people haven't tried to rap over before 'cos it aint cool man! Do something different so it doesn't die. An accent isn't enough anymore...

At the moment i'm working on either Trance, or Chillout instrumentals to rap over, just to see how it's recieved. Hell, tomorrow we (Papa Tear) have a gig with a guy called Robbie Antonio who's genre is pretty much only Dance. Should be interesting to see what the crowd thinks. (Shameless plug over).

I have to admit, i love listening to Hilltop Hoods, Bliss n Eso, Bias B, and all the rest of the mainstream stuff, but what i really love listening to is Faithless, Morcheeba, and Delerium for their awesome use of instruments, and often cunning use of language. That's where it's got to head, in my opinion, to get back on the map.

 

[alpinestar12]

Aussie hip hop is dead? YAAAAYY!!!

 

[matty_101]

Aussie hip hop is dead? YAAAAYY!!!

You are so not my friend anymore............if we ever were.

I hate aussie hip-hops mainstreamisation....I heard a song by some dick called WeaponX about sneakerpimpin, it's shameful that its denegrated to such a level. Back when hilltops weren't sold out as fuck........now those were the days. They still have skill, but their instrumentals are only to give these kids a beat to listen to while the pretend to represent the hip-hop scene.

 

[Pete J]

Back when hilltops weren't sold out as fuck........now those were the days.

Yeah, the early years of 2000 were way more old school and real, respect.

 

[Ryan]

Blah!1! Yep. Anyone who's actually made a buck out of it has sold out! It sucks that the artists who pioneered the genre actually get airplay. Everything I liked was cool before everyone else knew it was cool!

Talk it up.

FFS, getting airplay =/= sold out. You have to both make money AND noticeably change what you are/were doing to sell out. No one in Aus Hip Hop has done either.

 

[Woodsie]

Not because of any lack of quality from the local acts (The Tongue and Urthboy were standouts) but it would seem that Aussie HipHop is now mainstream.

The crowd were the biggest bunch of suburbanite douchebag Nova listeners ever. The whole "festival" had the vibe of a bad teenage party where the stereo had been taken over by hiphop heads, but no-one could care less.

So, you are saying that Aussie hiphop is dead, not because of issues with the music, but because the people listening to it don't fit into the exclusive, elitist clique that you think hiphop fans should conform to. If people who don't meet your criterea for coolness start to enjoy a particular style of music, then is it beneath you to continue supporting it?

 

[PINT of Stella. mate!]

I'll go as far as saying on hip-hop as a whole is dead and has been for over a decade. Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that there are a lot of lesser-know n acts pushing the boundaries (The UK Grime scene's at least branching out into Old-Skool rave, punk samples and political lyrics) but, face it 95% of hip-hop these days is overly-commercial unoriginal shite. The only US rapper to strike out and do something different in recent years was Kanye West and even that only lasted one album before he reverted back into the stereotypical hot chicks and maximum bling rap by numbers. To be honest, the driving force behind hip-hop has always been garish displays of affluence and rampant machismo. This has led to the majority of it to end up chasing it's own tail in a vicious circle of Bling, Bollinger and bitches.

Just because it's shiny, it doesn't make you a better person

 

[ajay]

If people who don't meet your criterea for coolness start to enjoy a particular style of music, then is it beneath you to continue supporting it?

Apparently....



NRC600, despite the evolution of some of the artists, you did buy tickets online for a festival, what exactly were you expecting? If you want to cling to the undergrounds reigns of Aussie Hiphop, dont go to festivals... having said that, not alot changes with artists who made it thruogh the longhaul of underground gigs, now they just get payed more and do a couple of radio freindly tracks, the rest (for the most part) is still the same.

As for the hoods, I own all their albums and apart from the obvious rise in production quality and the insertion of a couple of radio freindly tracks ( for the record, the chipmunk vocal samples piss me off no end and is probably the only thing that I really hate about them, or anyone else who does it ) they still sound more or less the same.

If you hate the sceno's that much, but insist on goin to festivals, may I suggest you invest in some blinkers?

 

[Mo]

I'll go as far as saying on hip-hop as a whole is dead and has been for over a decade. Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that there are a lot of lesser-know n acts pushing the boundaries (The UK Grime scene's at least branching out into Old-Skool rave, punk samples and political lyrics) but, face it 95% of hip-hop these days is overly-commercial unoriginal shite. The only US rapper to strike out and do something different in recent years was Kanye West and even that only lasted one album before he reverted back into the stereotypical hot chicks and maximum bling rap by numbers. To be honest, the driving force behind hip-hop has always been garish displays of affluence and rampant machismo. This has led to the majority of it to end up chasing it's own tail in a vicious circle of Bling, Bollinger and bitches.

Just because it's shiny, it doesn't make you a better person

if i could word my thoughts that good, i would have written the same thing.

flavor of the month is shit music through out.

 

[Breaka]

Aus hip-hop dead? Right

I'm not fanatical about it, but I do enjoy some descent aus hip-hop. Best compilations of aus hip-hop I've got are the Culture of Kings albums. And yep, the shit that we are exposed to through TV and radio to a certain extent is complete bullshit. I hate all the stuff coming through which takes on the whole 'Bitchez', 'hoez', 'gatz', 'money' and 'big-fuckin-rimz' deal.

I know exactly where you coming from NCR, but saying Aus hip-hop is dead is pretty rich (especially if your judging it off that one 'festival'). It's like going down to a local skate/bmx comp and saying that all skate/bmx is dead in Aus because the people there are ratshit.

I'm to tired/drunk(still) to come up with something logical to say so probably good idea to not take any notive of ^^^^^^ that.

 

[Rik]

Listen to Stolen Record on FBi's Sunset program, 6-8pm Wednesday. That show is keeping Aus hip hop alive, the best listening on radio by far.

How long until we get some Aussie grime? Whilst I'm not really for copying genres for the sake of it, we have a (slowly) growing dubstep scene here and getting some grime in the mix would be awesome - especially seeing it live at gigs.

 

[roasted]

I love grime, and hearing someone with an Aussie accent doing it would just not be right haha. Hoping that doesnt happen.

I would like to hear good quality aus hip-hop with rza style production, but I know that is unlikely.

 

[I-AM-TEH-FASTEST-11]

there is sooo much crap aussie shit.. The Tounge being part of that shitpile

Anecdote, Lyrical commision and a few others are kinda awesome.. and shit an aussie won Scribble Jam, that says something, right?

 

[johnny_boy]

they still sound more or less the same.

No, no they don't. You have the records? Go have a listen to Matter of Time. Before DJ next left them, HTH had a heaps less commercial sound - Matter of Time is a dark record, I love it. A pretty far cry from "Clown Prince"....

face it 95% of hip-hop these days is overly-commercial unoriginal shite. To be honest, the driving force behind hip-hop has always been garish displays of affluence and rampant machismo. This has led to the majority of it to end up chasing it's own tail in a vicious circle of Bling, Bollinger and bitches.

Just because it's shiny, it doesn't make you a better person

POSM, I think this would have been pretty true a decade back, or perhaps even to someone who doesn't know the Oz scene that well today - A noticeable change of late has been the rise of "concious" (sp?) rap in Aus, UK and US. If you don't believe me, go listen to The Herd, Urthboy, TZU, Combat Wombat, Astronomy Class etc etc. These aren't obscure, no namers either - These are the dudes at the front of the scene at the moment...

I went and saw the tounge, hermitude and urthboy at a gig about a week ago at the east brunswick club, and had the complete opposite experience to NCR - It was damn cool. Hermitude and Urthboy played 'phat' fun filled sets, that the crowd got right into. No nova listeners are far as the eye could see... However, this was a small, dedicated hip hop gig in melbournes suburbs, so you would expect a different crowd. Last HTH's gig I went to sucked, mainly due to the same reasons NCR was bitching about...

It's not dead, just choose the gigs you attend a little more carefully in future.

 

[Plow King]

So, you are saying that Aussie hiphop is dead, not because of issues with the music, but because the people listening to it don't fit into the exclusive, elitist clique that you think hiphop fans should conform to. If people who don't meet your criterea for coolness start to enjoy a particular style of music, then is it beneath you to continue supporting it?

Well said!

There is a quote from another song somewhere...

Here we are

Thou shalt not stop liking a band just because they've become popular.

 

[kizza01]

Blah!1! Yep. Anyone who's actually made a buck out of it has sold out! It sucks that the artists who pioneered the genre actually get airplay. Everything I liked was cool before everyone else knew it was cool!

Talk it up.

FFS, getting airplay =/= sold out. You have to both make money AND noticeably change what you are/were doing to sell out. No one in Aus Hip Hop has done either.

Hear Hear! Totally agree.

Groups like the HillTops were makin almost no money and really doin it tough before they hit it big. And honestly they arent that big. Just let them be to make some money to drive a nice car and be able to own a house.

It pretty fucking selfish to put-down so called sell outs, what do u want, them to live in poverty for the rest of their lives so u can be "cool" and "underground"?

Shame, Shame, Shame.

 

[Archi]

It's got to be taken in a new direction now. People are over the 'Where I came from, what I went though, how gangster i am' lyrics. Well, at least everyone I speak to.
HipHop originated with that stuff in the predominantly African American suburbs of America. And like most other Australian music it's just been imported. I think for Aus HipHop to stand out it's got to blur and meld some genres together. Mix shit which people haven't tried to rap over before 'cos it aint cool man! Do something different so it doesn't die. An accent isn't enough anymore...

Aussie stuff has always had a different background to international stuff. Here it is about drinking, hanging with mates, drinking and painting trains. It has always been the same and shit gets boring. The Genre stuff is what they need to probably explore a little more like you said. With reference to Astronomy class (dope), cause they blend two different styles of music together, creating something completely different to the rest. In fact, Elefant Traks in general has a pretty unique sound, especially compared to obese,purebred etc. In a sense i feel it is more 'music' than 'rap'. What we definately dont need is people cashing in on hip hop within australia cause its the trendy thing at the moment, making half assed, shitty music to please the masses (ie the nova crowd).

Dont Get me wrong, there is good hip hop coming out of australia, but at the moment it is completely swamped by shit, and at times it is difficult to sift through and find anything decent.