Me: Kathy, the engine is overheating,
the breaks won't work, we're spinning out of control and heading
straight for the river!
Kathy: oh and also we just ran out of
vodka...
Me: If we don't make it back to the
Hordern Pavilion in time Hillary Duff will take the stage and ruin
hip hop forever. We have to get back and stop her!
Kathy: what the fuck?
Me: I know it's crazy.
Kathy: If only we had a way out of this
mess that was simple yet sounded scientific enough that no one would
question our authority on it.
Together: Reverse the polarity!!
(Far away shot of a car exploding as it
spins off a bridge. Two girls walk slowly towards the camera wearing
blue sparkly spandex [superhero outfits] while fireworks go off
behind them as the car hits the river. The taller one sips from a
bottle.)
cue music: “Slider”
Me: well I didn't know that would
happen. Good thing for those eject buttons.
Kathy: Good thing for more vodka
Together: Cheers!
Kathy: now what?
Me: train?
Reverse Polarities:shaking up our ear
holes and turning nonsense into magic since 2005
Also, making train rides less boring.
Although the name may make it sound
like a bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo, what Reverse Polarities
actually says is a lot more real than 99.99% of anything you've ever
heard on the radio. Their philosophy is simple, do the opposite of
what everyone else is doing. Flip the game over on it's head and
just deliver the raw truth. They want to uncover the political
issues, give the facts, and focus on life as they know it here in
Australia. In essence just make their mark by challenging everyone
and changing how they think.
Mute and Mikoen at Oxford Arts Factory
You could say that Reverse Polarities
as a hip hop group, grew out of the western suburbs of Sydney. It
started off simply as couple of guys getting together for drinks, who
recorded poetry onto tape using half a headphone as a mic. Back in
the early 90's decent recording equipment was scarce, at least for a
group of youngsters. Rappers, Mikoen and Mute MC, who met at school
way the hell out in the middle of no where (ie western suburbs of
Sydney) may have originally worked on raps together out of boredom
back in their school days, but the work that they put into it back then has really paid off.
The two of them didn't officially form
the group until much later, choosing to work on several other hip hop
related projects. It wasn't until Mute moved to Newtown in 2005 that
things started to kick into gear for RP. Mute met beat maker Kit
Complete and the two became inseparable, working with another friend
Ludz on beats and rhymes, building their skills. Their youngest
member, Psmurf was still finishing school at the time they had their
first official gig at the Cat and Fiddle, which packed out the place.
Hip hop in Australia was only just starting to get some credibility
at that time thanks to groups like Hilltop Hoods, Muph and Plutonic,
and Bliss n Eso. Reverse Polarities was proud to represent where
they were from with all they had, focusing on issues relative to life
in Australia, rather than trying to mimic American emcees.
Although the group has juggled around
and swapped members in and out since it's inception, it is known now
for its four permanent members: Mute MC, Mikoen, and Psmurf as
rappers and Kit Complete on the beats. They rep the inner west and
the western suburbs of Sydney and have been active in one form or
another since 2005, minus a two year hiatus between 2009 and 2011.
Watching Reverse Polarities perform
now, it's obvious that they all really respect and appreciate each
other. And although your attention might first be drawn to the
barefoot one bouncing around with the expressive face, you will soon
see that there is no front-man to this group. Each member equally
takes his turn in the spot light. They are all supportive of
each other without the pretension of having to “be something” or
project a certain image. I feel like when I see an RP set it's four
artists coming together and just relaxing into themselves and letting
each other do their own thing but with the backing that they need to
help one another other shine. Everyone takes their turn in the spot light,
they cover each other's mistakes and play to each other's strengths.
So where does Reverse Polarities end
and Daily Meds begin? The whole thing can be a bit of head spin to
figure out. Some members are shared between groups, and of course
other members make “guest” appearances on each other's tracks.
The beats and production are done differently in the two, with Roleo
in Daily Meds and Kit Complete on Reverse Polarities. Daily Meds
came into being at the time when RP was on hiatus.
Since they share members anyway, a
Reverse Polarities and Daily Meds supergroup sounds like a terrific
idea, but the reality of it is there are so many different projects
going on simultaneously, it would be hard to coordinate, although
they always have and will continue to swap members around like spit
at a make out party... that's fam right there.
RP LIVE:
The way I look at it is Reverse
Polarities gave them a taste, let them find the way onto the scene,
and helped them define and develop who they are as artists, so that
then when Daily Meds came along, they weren't starting from scratch
anymore. They had a recipe that worked and this time there wouldn't
be any burnt batches of brownies. Daily Meds was serious business
and they have exploded onto the scene in the last few years and
become a raging success with fans all over the country. RP now has
taken a back step to this, but with the group back together and going
strong again, what I see it as, is an outlet for the boys to relax
again. They don't have to prove anything to anyone, and they are
humbled by being reminded of where they have come from. It's a treat
for old and new fans alike to see the comfortableness and refreshing
attitude that comes out of a Reverse Polarities show. And this is no
soft la-de-da party music either, it's in your face and tackling
political issues head on, something that this scene needs
desperately.
Drank, dance, rap...
It will be a busy year for RP as a
group as well as all the members individually. You can look forward
to an official Reverse Polarities album this year released through
Big Village. Also Psmurf will be dropping his solo release VERY
soon. Mick's mixtape will be out to offend young and old come April. Mute
is working on a little something special with Daily Meds DJ, Roleo.
But that's not all, he's also got a project called Mute Oblivion with
a release in the near future. Kit Complete won't be outdone either,
with his second solo release coming out this year as well.
Despite so many other projects
happening, the RP group is back in full force. Their latest video
project, “Invasion Day,” released in time for Australia Day this
year perfectly demonstrates the hard political stance on an issue
that's still very sensitive in Australian society. And true to their
name they will flip the situation on its head. They won't just give
you the watered down version of events, they aren't just some white
kids from the suburbs rapping about how they hate their parents. They
will serve you up the real issues in a way that won't be ignored, and
you can make up your own mind but at least the facts are all there to
be digested.
Check out the clip below:
“Reverse Polarities, you wouldn't
want to challenge these emcee's mentalities...”
I want this to read like a personal
journal for those of you that wanted to go but couldn't, I want you
to feel like you were there and you wrote this. I want this to read
like a love letter for all of those that have continued to share
these experiences with me: to those that are always by my side (you
know who you are), to those that I now recognise in the crowd night
by night, and to those on stage in this crew that have never been
anything but nice to me, and have always taken the time out to talk
to me, and encourage me to ask the questions which will help define
their point of view. (And put up with me when I'm embarrassingly
drunk too.) I want this to read like a postcard for all of those who
haven't had the pleasure of experiencing this music yet. Cause it
says “Wish you were here,” in big bold print. The photo on the
front alone will be enough to make you want to dive in, but my
colourful prose will catch you on the hook and sink you for sure.
First a little background info, this
album/ tour is truly a family affair. Not only is the whole crew
involved but it's almost like the emcees drew names out of a hat to
see who got to work with who this time. Although there's some
familiar combinations- Loose Change, Daily Meds, Reverse Polarities,
True Vibenation, etc. There are also some new, not yet seen before
combinations (ie. Jeswon & P Smurf, Klue & Billie Rose, Mute
MC & Verbaleyes, and Tuka & Loose Change, Billie Rose &
Reverse Polarities). And the highlight of it all, is the posse track
where absolutely everyone gets to throw down a verse. That's 16 clowns squeezed onto an itty bitty stage for a BIG finale.
My journey to this particular show
actually began months ago when the lives of Kathy and I first started
to become intertwined with the members of this crew. I won't take
you through the details of how we became advocates, spokeswomen, and
top sticker distributors for Big Village. But one particularly
memorable night happened just before the first show of the tour, in
Sydney. Now it turns out that a lot of times, when I'm planning to
have a big night, it tends to get slightly ruined by the night
before. In this case, my friends and I had been planning on and
looking forward to the Friday night gig at the Oxford Arts Factory
for months, so what do I do? Well, I spent the Thursday night
drinking moonshine at a warehouse in Marrickville and... well I'm
sure you can already tell that this isn't going to end well... (or is
it?)
My favourite song off the Big Things
Volume 2 album, as I'm sure a couple people can attest to, was
immediately “Lingua Franca.” The song is a collab by Mute MC
(Reverse Polarities) and Verbaleyes (True Vibenation). Lyrically,
this song spoke to me more than any other has in recent times. It
communicates how music is the only absolutely universal language. It has
the ability to bring the people of every culture and background to
the understanding that we are all just one people. It's basically
everything that hip hop as a culture attempts to express.
On the night of the 13th
August, a special day on it's own, I partook in a particularly
special event, we did a video shoot for “Lingua Franca.” We may
have lacked the representation from all cultures of the world that we
had wanted to showcase in the video, but we all came with an earnest
desire to make something out of nothing and to give this song the
energy and communal feeling that it deserves. I'm pretty sure we
succeeded, although I've yet to see the video. I did get to rap to
the camera though, and I met Damon finally, after hearing so much
about how awesome he is, but that's a whole other story.
And so the BIG night had come around
finally, I really meant to get there right when the doors opened. We
should have been the first people standing by the door, bright and
eager with our tickets clenched in hand, like little girls going to
see our first concert cause that's certainly how excited we felt. I
have been wanting to see Sketch the Rhyme which is, well what
is it? From what I can guess/ imagine- it's like a hip hop pictionary
game show, with lots of live freestyle raps and live art, you can't
get much more hip hop than that. It is such a cool concept and takes
a lot of skill. The ability to drop a tight freestyle these days is
almost like separate skill to being an emcee, when it used to be a
requirement. These kind of rapping games really keep rappers on their
toes and fine tunes their skill. Unfortunately, something called
“Fat Ass Scrumpy” (and that is a type of beverage) delayed our
arrival time by at least half an hour, so I missed out on the first
part of the action.
This was my first time at the Oxford
Arts Factory and I can see now why it's such a popular venue. It's
intimate without being too small, it gives the feeling of being in a
theatre (velvet curtain and all) without any seats to get in the way
of dancing. Immediately upon entering you could tell this was a hip
hop gig. Not like a 360 show which I've talked about before, or Illy
which I went to recently, where the vibe just felt a bit off. Here,
it was like there was something in the air, a highly contagious
airborne allergen that did the opposite of making you sick, in fact
as soon as you caught it you felt energised, alive, and connected to
all the people around you. It was like arriving home, and although
most of the people there were strangers, they were all people that I
wanted to know. My eyes were sparkling as I looked around. I was on
a drug but I wasn't. I was on the edge and about to jump.
Reverse Polarities was on now and I
went straight to the front of the stage as if we had assigned seats
and I had to take my place. Mikoen, P-Smurf, and Mute MC said their
hellos to me from the stage not like an artist communicating to a
fan, but like we were here together and we were sharing something. A
couple of songs into the set, everyone except P-Smurf mysteriously
disappeared from the stage, then out popped Jeswon to perform what is
most likely my second favourite song on the album, although it's a
close call. Lately it's only lyrics with a message that really do
it for me, Evolutionary Cells was a stand out from the first listen.
As far as lyrics and subject matter this song is right where I'm at.
It is time for evolution, come on people lets do this. BIG of course
came on soon after and I couldn't stop myself jumping around to this
insane beat. It's probably the catchiest song on the album, and with
Billie Rose joining them, they became Reverse Polarities- Daily Meds
hyphenated like a beautiful marriage of sound.
Security is minimal at these events.
It's not like at some shows where there has to be a big barricade
separating the performers from the audience, in case desperate
teenagers get overcome with lust and throw themselves onto the stage.
(I haven't seen it happen yet anyway.) And the inevitable fighting
that tends to happen at a lot of hip hop shows, was completely absent
this night. The vibe was excellent, it's like we were all friends.
Artists were also audience members, keen to see their friends
performances as much as we were. When the show was about ¾ of the
way through, Rochelle turned to me we both just looked at each other
in astonishment, we couldn't do much but just shake our heads and
say, “amazing.” She tilts her head and says, “this could be... the best?” “Yes,” I nod in agreement. “The best one.” we
agree.
It was all about the vibe this time and
the vibe was alive and the crowd was feeling something intense
together, the sets were tight. What can I say about the rest of the
night? Loose Change is a change from just your average Australian hip
hop. “Ode to the Beatmaker” is a performance and track to check
out from the album. Rapaport solo is truly unstoppable. He's got a
style that no one can touch. As he said during the set, “this is
like workout music,” you can't help but move around to the beats.
As proved by my video of “Claptrap” where he is joined by
impromptu dancers. True Vibenation bring the whole reggae, jazz
vibe, with the saxophones and love for all, and Bob Marley. It's a
good chill interlude. It was really exciting for me when Mute came
out and they performed “Lingua Franca” after working on it so
much the night before. It was a great energy song that got a crowd
response. Daily Meds just absolutely killed the night. I'm pretty
sure everyone literally went “Insane” and had to be removed from
the activities of normal society the next day. Daily Meds
have the most intense high energy performance I have yet witnessed.
You cannot help but dance to the music. Well it helps that they have
a song called “Dance” as well but, you would anyway. Tuka and
Ellesquire are the smoothest lyricists. Their raps are thoughtful
and their singing soulful. They both have a soothing, yet eye
catching stage presence, it was certainly interesting to see these
two form a pair and bring us something new from their combined
greatness.
Ellesquire and Tuka
Going to the Newcastle and Blue
Mountains shows turned out to be a beautiful last minute decision.
Three weeks had gone by since the Sydney show already, and the BV'ers
had taken a massive bus all the way down to Melbourne and then up to
Brisbane. Our decision to go to the Newcastle show was a last minute
one as it was. And then following mine and Kathy's normal procedure,
we left about a hour and a half later than we had planned to. But
I'm sure it wouldn't be half as exciting to get there if we weren't
always racing the clock. This time we raced the clock all the way up
the coast, half hoping that the show wasn't actually over when we got
there. Lucky it wasn't too bad, we made it in about halfway through
Loose Change's set. Saying to ourselves of course, it's ok we'll see
the whole thing next time. Hahaha....
The Newcastle show was a little bit of
a disappointment. I don't know if we were just a bit put off from
the start by one very strange coincidence, a chance meeting. But
the whole night certainly had a very different feel to it. After the
super high energy of the Sydney show, this one felt a bit strained
and a little bit awkward. But that just goes to show how every show,
even though it's exactly the same, can have a completely different
feel just depending on the crowd. The performers feed off the
crowd's energy and give back whatever they get magnified tenfold. A
disinterested crowd will always get a slightly disinterested
performer, but when it's on, it's on.
True Vibenation
Have you ever had the experience of
witnessing an absolutely incredible performance, and then afterwards
you just feel completely drained? It's like coming down off of a
high. That's because you have given up all your energy to that
performance as well. The performer has received an incredible burst
of energy from the buzzingly excited crowd and was able to use it
all, to gain almost inhuman abilities, giving it all back with the
best performance possible. The performer and the audience form a
special bond. It's why I go to the shows night after night, it's what
I live for these days. That one moment where you're not just
yourself anymore, the moment that the performer and the audience
creates together, where the whole room is on the same level. We drop
over the edge. We all feel the same feeling. The one moment. The
posse track, This Is That, which of course was the last song of the night
describes this push and pull between the audience and performers
perfectly. “We got the energy to give it out, give it back... what
you want is what you get, keep it all in check, come on.”
How to sleep in a car. Where are her legs??
Anyway not to say that the Newcastle
performance was anything less than awesome. But compared to what we
had already seen and what was to come, it definitely lacked energy
and crowd participation.
Getting to the Blue Mountains was
painful. This was the same day we left Newcastle, drove back to
Sydney and then off again to Katoomba. Of course we were late again,
and the rain was so heavy as we turned onto the highway that lead
into the mountains that we almost had to pull over. Lucky it wasn't
a tad colder or we would have been blanketed with snow. I'm sitting
in the back of the car with the rain bucketing down on us, completely
covering the front windscreen. Kath is trying to drive but we can
barely see a metre ahead and I'm just thinking to myself. “Why the
FUCK are we doing this??” We parked down the side of the building
so we could smash a few drinks before we went in and we could hear
BIG just barely coming through the wall, of course we missed the
whole beginning of the show AGAIN! We made a sneaky side entrance so
as not to attract too much attention. The room felt old but
friendly and comfortable. Small town vibe, everyone was friendly.
There was so many familiar faces in the crowd. And then all the
hassle of getting there, sleeping in the car the night before, the whole day of driving, everything was worth it. We had made home again.
It felt so good to get out of Sydney
for a little while. I moved down from North Queensland about 8
months ago, chasing some excitement, something happening. I
certainly found what I was looking for, but I realised that I haven't
left the city since about March (except to go to Canberra, which
doesn't really count cause it's a shithole, sorry) and it was so
relaxing just to chill somewhere were people aren't always rushing to
get to the next thing. The small town vibe is definitely a needed
break for the mind.
Daily Meds
This show was much
smaller than the Sydney one, and it started off slow, even by the
time we got there the crowd was a bit sparse. But I think what we
got to in the end of that show exceeds where we were at in the Sydney
show. I felt like all of us together were building and building up
to the last moment. The ultimate push and pull, the energy flying.
I think because we had already seen the show a couple of times now,
we weren't particularly focused on each set like we had been, but
that meant that we had plenty of time to connect with friends. And
it gave us the ability to throw all of our spare energy into that
last all important moment, in the last song. And it paid off. That
end result that I try to describe? It can't be mimicked or faked, it
can only be felt deep inside. And if you know what I mean then you
know now, or else you have a new aspiration to achieve. This hip hop
thing is slowly killing me. And letting me breathe. If you don't
know what I mean, then get onto this thing.
I'd say we're
pretty close to starting our own society, yeah? Big Village.
(you'll see me rep
that in the street)
I think you'll find all your needs will be taken care of here.
Check it out, Tuka's 2nd solo album "Feedback Loop" will be released this Friday, 26th October!
Review: Hilltop Hoods “Speaking in Tongues Tour” 2012
Groovin the Moo, CanberraMay 13th
Hordern Pavillion, SydneyAugust 4th
University of Canberra August 12th
Introduction:
I feel like I'm obligated to be super impressed with Hilltop Hoods show because they are one of the groups that founded Australian hip hop, and because of everything that they have done to get hip hop in this country to the level that it is today. Certainly they are the group that turned many people onto this genre of music, and I have a lot of respect for what they have done. I contemplated whether I should express my real opinion about the shows that I attended on their recent tour because I don't want to immediately alienate people, by taking a stance on something that is in such stark contrast to the almost universally accepted reality of the situation. But having different opinions is what makes life interesting, so I hope you will find that I have touched on some good points, and opened the path for a discussion, even if you completely disagree with what I have to say.
The background story:
Surf Beach, New South Wales south coast
Alright, before we get too far into it, first let me tell you a little story about what Hilltop Hoods mean to me. It started in the summer of 2006. I had been into Rhymesayers music for quite some time, especially Atmosphere. I was also bumping a lot of Sublime and Mystic Roots at the time. This was my second trip to Australia, my first being a year long stay as an exchange student in 2002. A friend and I, both from Upstate New York, were living in a little beach town near Batemans Bay on the south coast of NSW and starting to get a bit bored. One day a neighbour came over and while I played hip hop off my laptop he asked, “Have you heard any Australian hip hop?” And right then a new obsession was born. I didn't know Australian hip hop existed. I think like a lot of Australians, I was partial to anything Australian just because it was Australian. It had that accent, that attitude, it was something different. It came from here, it came from us not them. And so it was automatically special to us, it was better. (I had always felt since I first came to Australia that I was more at home than I was in the United States, that's why I referred to Australia as “us,” even then.)
me in our Surf Beach apartment 2007
The Hard Road and The Calling where my introduction to Australian hip hop. I may have fallen for the catchy chorus of “The Nosebleed Section” like everybody else, but it was the songs that went a bit deeper like “Testimonial Year” and “1979” that made it stick. That's when I saw that they had something different to say, something personal. The Hard Road was a strong album, and at the time, it was something that I associated with. But it wasn't long before I moved on in my listening to other Australian emcees and admittedly my attention to what the Hilltop Hoods were doing began to wane after that. I hate to sound like someone who says, “I only like their old shit,” because that's not true either, I actually think their new album is much, much better than any of their others. I like most of the songs, they are catchy and easy to listen to. I think the lyrics in the song “Speaking in Tongues” come across with a good message about unity, that I can identify with. I was extremely hyped to see what a tour promoting this album would include. Many years now into my Australian hip hop obsession, and many many performances under my belt, I had yet to see “the mighty Hilltops” perform. I expected them to put on a performance that said “we are the top of hip hop in this country” loud and clear. I expected them to pull out every stop possible.
My honest opinion:
Having seen Hilltop Hood perform three times this year, I have to say that each time I was underwhelmed. I guess that's because I was expecting something more. They have this reputation for being the greatest thing that ever happened to Australian hip hop, so I had extremely high expectations. Maybe I had unreasonably high expectations, and that's why they fell short. But I think that once you get everyone's attention the way that they have, you better hope like hell that you have a message for them. Hopefully the message is something that will make people think, and that their lives will be enriched by the experience of sharing your music with you. Making a great party song, may get you a lot of attention, but it doesn't make you a great artist. It's the songs with a real message about life that people will actually take something away from and appreciate more in the end.
I'm not saying that the shows were terrible at all, they were good concerts. The audience was involved and activated. There was great energy between performers and audience. That by itself can make for a good and unifying experience. I'm sure for a lot of newcomers, first time concert goers, and those that attend only a few concerts a year, it may have been the best thing they have ever seen. That is fantastic, I know almost every person there did feel something great. But if I look at all the concerts that I have attended just in the last six months, the Hilltop Hoods performances, for me, fell short of what I thought they were capable of achieving. We went to the edge but not over it. It was missing that something extra, that a group, with their knowledge, skill, experience, and especially with their monetary backing, could have brought to the game. I was looking for them to step it up another notch from anything we have seen so far before, but it was like somehow we missed a step up and the playing field just began to level out.
In comparison:
I think maybe a lot of it comes down to the fact that I'm a huge Bliss n Eso fan. Honestly, the show they put on for their “Running on Air” tour is still the best hip hop show I have seen from this country. Of course they connected with the audience, and yes there was a lot of audience participation and feed back. (Standard.) They played games with us that we may have seen before already at a Bliss n Eso show in the past (they have their traditions), but WOW did they really surprise us. And yes, I think they did step it up and push their performance to the next level.
Let me just briefly recount the things that made “Running On Air” a standout performance. First of all, you can't go past what is in your face from the very beginning. A running video montage accompanies each and every one of their songs. It's not just a large TV showing their performance on a big screen so that those in the back can see better, which is what most artists do. (And that's a good thing as well, no doubt.) But what they do is actually create a unique film clip that goes with each performance as an accompaniment to compliment the lyrics of each song and drive their point home. Like they have a DJ mixing, bringing in elements from so many different musical genres into one, they also have a VJ mixing clips in the same way. Already this is a different sort of performance, but let's look at what else they did. The song “Fire it Up” was actually accompanied by real flames on stage. Their interludes between songs included actual skits, like pretend fishing before “Down by the River.” And the most amazing part of the whole night, visually and sonically, was when unveiled that a grand piano had been moved onto the stage for their performance of “At Midnight,” my favourite song of theirs. All of these points were driven home when we went back and watched the DVD of this performance after seeing the Canberra Hilltop Hoods show. I don't expect to see these types of things in every oz hip hop performance obviously because doing these types of things on stage requires a lot of money to pull off. However I was put off by the lack of these types of surprises in the Hilltop Hoods show considering they most likely have even more in the way of monetary backing than Bliss n Eso does.
Don't get me wrong, it's not only big production and big displays of waving money around that gets me excited about a hip hop show. I would be more than happy to watch just an emcee and a DJ on stage doing nothing special, if what they had to say was real and meaningful. I may even actually prefer it because the theatrics of it all can distract from the message. I think what is most important in hip hop and everyone would have to agree, is the lyrics. Everything else is just done in support of what is being said. And I was listening, really listening hard at the Hilltop Hoods show, like I do at every show, and lyrically they just weren't doing it for me.
Research:
Last night, I spent hours pouring over Hilltop Hoods lyrics to see if maybe I was just missing something. What I found out is some of their rhymes are pretty tight and intricate. But what really gets to me is that so many of their songs seem to be about the same thing, how great of lyricists and emcees they are, how much better their crew is than anyone else's . We know they can tell a good story, with songs like “The Sentinel,” “Audience with the Devil,” and “Stopping All Stations,” but those are pretty rare. We all know they can make a great banging party song like, “What A Great Night” and “Blue Blooded All Stars.” But do they represent something more than that? What I'm looking for is a simple message, what point are they actually trying to get out there? Yet line after line reads like this “My lyrics range from better than yours to way better than yours,” while at the same time lacking substance in their words.
Cultural Resistance:
I think a big problem is how do you keep pushing yourself after you've already “made it”? I think no matter what the Hilltop Hoods put out now they will still get love from the masses. I think it would be hard when you get to that point to keep from being lazy. Especially since laziness in Australia is almost a praised characteristic.
It's part of Australian culture to be lazy, you can't help it really. Australia has such a laid back and easy lifestyle. It comes with the whole no worries philosophy: Don't worry, don't plan, everything just works out fine on it's own, no stress. The thing is sometimes stress is the only way that anything gets done, it's a motivating factor. As I see it, it's hard at every level for an Australian emcee (or any artist in Australia for that matter). It's hard to get started in the first place, because life is just too easy for most people to be bothered to put any extra effort into anything. It's hard to start to establish and make a name for yourself because of the way society tends to look down on those “overachievers.” And it's even hard once you've “made it” to find the motivation to keep pushing yourself.
Having lived in the US where stress rules the land, and you are judged purely on what you have achieved rather than who you are, and in Australia where “no worries” is a lifelong philosophy, I can see both sides of the coin. Now before you get all high and mighty on me, realise that I chose to live here so obviously I think the Australian lifestyle is a much better choice. But there are positives and negatives to every situation. Australia has something embedded in the society that the United States does not, and it's commonly referred to as “Tall Poppy Syndrome.” As far as I see it, this means that anyone that tries to grow too big or reach too far toward the stars gets immediately knocked down. Whether it's verbally, physically, or just perceptually, the group will tend to look down on or beat down on the one who stands out until they feel bad about themselves and withdraw to the same level as their peers.
Tall poppy syndrome can stifle creativity because anyone who tries too hard at anything will be knocked down and hated on. That's why laziness is so treasured in Australia. This is why mediocrity tends to rule. If you stand out too much, you're a try-hard, putting in too much effort. It's like when we were in school and the people who were good at it and always did their homework got made fun of, except extended into a whole life philosophy. It's just the opposite in the United States. With so much competition for every little aspect of life, standing out from the crowd is the only way to survive, so being extremely ambitious is a valued and desirable character trait.This isn't to say that all (or even most) the stuff that comes out of the US is excellent or that everything that comes out of Australia is mediocre. It just helps us to understand the cultural mindset that the artist comes up against in this country.
There are so many artists in this country I don't think are striving to reach their greatest potential, simply because they don't even know what their greatest potential could be. Perhaps they are aiming too low, purposely melding themselves to fit in with their peers because unconsciously, that is what they are culturally programed to do. I'm not going to name any more names or make this entry into one of hate or placing blame, because that's not what I'm all about. I'm simply stating that what comes from the top trickles down. I think in this culture we can all get along together, but that everyone should be focusing much harder on each forming their own unique point of view and going for that as hard as they can. It takes many different pieces to make the whole picture, if all the pieces are too similar the picture will only turn out to be a fuzzy blur when what we need is clear cut edges and defined brush strokes. We should try and show our best face to the world, and that's not going to happen if we keep trying to cut each other down and conform around a set standard.
The opening act:
Horrorshow in Canberra
Well enough of that tangent and back to the actual shows. I won't go on about all the little things that I found annoying, overall I did enjoy myself. However there was one thing that I couldn't get over which is worth mentioning. I think they missed a golden opportunity in not bringing Solo out on stage with them to perform “The Underground.” It is one of the best tracks on their new album and was in the running to become the second single, beaten out by “Shredding the Balloon,” only just. They brought Horrorshow on tour with them because obviously they respect and want to showcase this younger group, so why not bring Solo on stage to perform his track with them? I think it would have made for a very memorable moment in the show.
It's actually Horrorshow's Sydney performance that sticks out the most in my mind from these shows. The tour had just returned from Europe days before the Sydney gig. Horrorshow stepped out on stage to their home crowd, a year after performing this same venue with Bliss n Eso, with a new confidence and a very strong presence that I hadn't yet seen from them. There was no uncertainty at all. I think going overseas can give you such a refreshed perspective on life. And coming back to perform to a sold out home crowd, at the very venue that they themselves saw their very first concert, I can imagine they just threw everything that they had into it, and that confidence shone through in the best way. “We got this one,” was the note to self backstage.
Both of their performances I remember so differently, even though they played the same songs both times. Each performance carried a completely different vibe. The Sydney show was all about far away blue lights, slow songs, and haunting lyrics. Their new song “Dead Star Shine” stood out as pretty much the highlight of my night. Even though it was a brand new song and no one knew it yet, you could tell it went over very well, and I think he even got us all singing along to the chorus in the end. At the Canberra show of course we were able to get much closer. I remember the lighting as being more energetic, orange and yellow and greens with “Thoughtcrime” being the most stand-out song of the night.
Sally with Adit and Solo
There's certainly room in this scene and in the world scene for music like Horrorshow's hip hop style. They come from a much softer, very heartfelt place that I think a lot of artists are afraid to show. Their respect for the greats of this genre is evident in Solo's lyrics as well as the samples that Adit chooses. And yet they have managed to come out with something completely different. Solo wears his heart on his sleeve, and that's very refreshing coming from a genre that has a reputation for being about how hard you are, or pulling off a gangster persona.
In closing:
Again, I don't want this to come off the wrong way. Of course I don't hate the Hilltop Hoods, I have nothing but respect for them and what they have accomplished and continue to accomplish. I more have the attitude of that overbearing father or older brother in that because I love them, I'm harder on them because I want them to push themselves even more to reach their very best potential.
I invite anyone reading this, please change my mind about them. I'm open to listening again and being proven wrong. I actually would love to be. So send me lyrics and songs to listen to that really displays their point of view cause I would love it if I was just missing something.
Here is Hilltop Hoods new video clip. It's a big love fest, it's all about unity among the hip hop community. Do you think that message comes across?
I'll leave you now with these thoughts. I was recently speaking to an Australian emcee about how I was looking for more, I wanted to hear something profound coming from the artist on stage in order to really enjoy the show. And his response disappointed me more than anything. What he said was, “Well we're only rappers you can't expect too much from us.” But I expect more from an emcee than an average person. I expect the whole world to be explained, and the whole world to be brought together as one just through one song. Because that is hip hop.
Links
rattlingthekeys.com - information about Hilltop Hoods new single and video as well as links to their charity auction items
Horrorshow- artist info, merchandise, upcoming gigs
Flying Colours - Bliss n Eso's merchandise site where you can purchase the Running On Air DVD
.jpg)
