Sensible Erection | Aussie Hip Hop

Thursday, 6 September 2012

quote [ Australian hip hop has taken on a greater diversity by developing its own unique flavour with a focus on the Aussie battler, jovial, larrikin lyrics and the heavy use of samples and sound bites. ]

Not sure how many of you will be interested in this, but the music coming out in this scene is SO good at the moment that I feel compelled to share it. And am willing to take the karma hit if people have a) already heard it or b) are just not interested.

This post is basically just a small collection of the best tracks from two aussie hip hop groups. There are many other artists in the scene now, but these are undoubtedly the best (imo). So, without further ado, may I present the musical stylings of Hilltop Hoods and Bliss n Eso.

Hilltop Hoods - Speaking in Tongues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuDw2QnDTqs

Hilltop Hoods - I Love It:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpz__0-DnSQ

Hilltop Hoods - Rattling the Keys to the Kingdom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrS5ILwtBvM

Hilltop Hoods - Chase That feeling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq8PyyMbrYQ

Hilltop Hoods - Nosebleed Section:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSFT2OKcdk0

-

Bliss n Eso - Addicted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9xUofg0B04

Bliss n Eso - Down by the River:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia5wvXfb-w4

Bliss n Eso - Reflections:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b33VWxdHrNk

Bliss n Eso - Late One Night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41uTxj-V3bg

Bliss n Eso - Golden Years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMgOXShq-Eo

Bliss n Eso - Flying Through the City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHrqXk8yngQ

[music] [by Eru@5:42amGMT] [+9 Good]

Comments

eggboy said @ 5:49am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:3]

lilmookieesquire said @ 5:56am GMT on 6th Sep
Something someone Ricard?

-_- said @ 9:33am GMT on 6th Sep

lilmookieesquire said @ 5:49am GMT on 6th Sep
+1 sympathy upmod! <3

Eru said @ 5:53am GMT on 6th Sep
Is that like, sympathy for the all the downmods I'm about to receive?

lilmookieesquire said @ 6:54am GMT on 6th Sep
No no. It's a nice post. You deserve an upmod.

lilmookieesquire said @ 5:54am GMT on 6th Sep
In all honesty, they are pretty good (both groups). Nice melody. Nice lyrics.

I find it odd that it seems really... rural. I'm used to hip-hop being very urban, but the images that I'm seeing... they all look... frankly... quite lovely.

Which matches well to the style they are using... but it has a very different feel to the hip-hop I'm used to and it's taking me time to adjust.

I like it, but it feels kinda weird.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 6:01am GMT on 6th Sep
Psht, Chinese Rap is where it's at!

damnit said @ 6:49am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Interesting]
LOL

Syllabically, Chinese Rap just doesn't sound very appealing. Same with Vietnamese.

Korean and Japanese rap works well.

lilmookieesquire said @ 7:07am GMT on 6th Sep
Japanese rap used to be horrible. It's really become Americanized (and for the better) in the last 15 years or so.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 7:14am GMT on 6th Sep
Yeah, I know. That's still the only station other than Softly I listen to in Sleeping Dogs even though the rest of the soundtrack is pretty solid. Mostly for atmosphere.

lilmookieesquire said @ 7:06am GMT on 6th Sep
I'm kind of into Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.
Anyone play it?

ithaqua10 said @ 1:36pm GMT on 6th Sep

pleaides said @ 6:01am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Underrated]
Aussie hip hop has been going nuts for years, and it's come up with some top notch stuff. I couldn't stand any hip hop at all for years.

pleaides said @ 10:50am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:2 Good]
May I add that aussie metal is also going rather well.

Butterfly Effect;

Here's Karnivool, they're fucking awesome, seriously. This song puts a tick in all the boxes;

pleaides said @ 11:04am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Original]
There's also SEers including myself, one_inch and seneki_69;

and the inimitable Cog;

eggboy said @ 6:07am GMT on 7th Sep
Not fucking bad.

Karnivool imho are the best band to come out of Australia so far, just flawless. Another great one was Superheist, which actually involved a fair bit of rapping on their earlier work. They were also masters of the crouching squat.

Hard prog is pretty ubiquitous in Aus, it also happens to be one of my favorite types of music, and you can often find excellent bands playing it at your local any given thursday night. Thousand Needles in Red are also shaping up to be a great addition to the genre.

tickaz said @ 6:08am GMT on 7th Sep
Sadly, Cog are no more and The Butterfly Effect's vocalist Clint has left the band to pursue his other band, A Thousand Needles In Red (who basically sound like early, heavier TBE).

I can't wait for Karnivool's 3rd album, if only Ian Kenny would stop fucking around with Bids of Tokyo.

tickaz said @ 6:10am GMT on 7th Sep
*Birds of Tokyo

To add to eggboy's Superheist suggestion may I present Breaking Orbit from Sydney:

http://youtu.be/hKy60ZE7pHo

tickaz said @ 6:13am GMT on 7th Sep
doh!

sanepride said @ 6:01am GMT on 6th Sep
Sorry but there's just something about white people doing hip-hop that just seems goofy and patronizing, even if it's well-done and sincere. Maybe it's the stupid 'gangsta' gesticulating. Why is this obligatory? What does it mean to suburban Aussies anyway?

Eru said @ 6:13am GMT on 6th Sep
Frankly I could do without the gesticulating myself, it does look kinda silly. But do hand gestures in rap/hip hop actually have meaning? that's sorta news to me. I thought they just did it to look cool and keep on time.

EPT said @ 6:36am GMT on 6th Sep
Why is it less ridiculous for black people to do the gangsta gesticulating?

Bob Denver said @ 6:49am GMT on 6th Sep
'cos they invented it. Rather like when English people speak with that accent, it isn't ridiculous but when Americans do it is. cf.Kevin Costner and Dustin Hoffman.

EPT said @ 6:54am GMT on 6th Sep
Ah, so criticisms of it being ridiculous when black people being 'classy' or 'well-spoken' are valid then, since white people invented those things?

Bob Denver said @ 5:12pm GMT on 6th Sep
I never mentioned colour. I find it ridiculous when anybody tries to be something they're not for coolness' sake...even me. I still wince over some of my teenage affectations—with a smile.

EPT said @ 1:33am GMT on 7th Sep
You didn't say the exact words, but 'cos they invented it' is a response about black vs white given the context of my response to sanepride.

Bob Denver said @ 8:07am GMT on 7th Sep
Nope. Black vs English perhaps—from a purely cultural point-of-view. For the record, I'm not white and I spoke with an English (public school) accent for most of my childhood. I saw no conflict (and neither did anyone else...except for some old bigots) because I grew up with all of the appropriate cultural references. Since then I travelled and became a polyglot and now my accent is all over the place and nobody knows quite what to make of me. So, please take it as sincere that I had no intention of making this a racial issue...after nearly 60 years, I'm pretty fucking done with those.

EPT said @ 7:02am GMT on 6th Sep
Also, what about latinos? Are they ridiculous when they do it because they're white, or are they allowed because they're 'gangsta'?

ComposerNate said @ 7:33am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Insightful]
It's ridiculous when anyone does it, but...

1) I was raised to limit my judging, mocking of other cultures, especially those having a different skin color.
2) I am more reactive when white men do it because it seems closer to me doing it, and I regularly judge myself.

* (The Asshole FKA Morris) said @ 4:54pm GMT on 6th Sep
I think it is ridiculous when anyone does it as well. Even more so if what seems like a cultural affectation is alien to your own culture. ie M&M is less ridiculous doing it than say, Englebert Humperdink.

Naruki said @ 12:07am GMT on 7th Sep
M&M?

tickaz said @ 7:45am GMT on 7th Sep [Score:2 Funny]
Well, he is brown on the inside.

Bob Denver said @ 5:42pm GMT on 6th Sep
People don't stop just because someone finds a behaviour or an affectation ridiculous. I ask you, have you ever stopped acting in a particular way because someone (outside of that person you really wanted to date or someone you really respected) found your behaviour ridiculous? Hell, if the Yanomami want to do gangsta, I'd respect their choice but still find it ridiculous...especially if their lip disk keeps smacking them in the face.

eggboy said @ 7:41am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Insightful]
Seems to me most hip-hop attempts to tell the story of the rapper themselves, their friends and their community. (unless it's an angry protest song)

You wont find Aussie hip-hop artists rapping about bitches and bling and popping a cap in your arse, cause that just isn't relevant here. If you can understand the accent and colloquialisms (dunno how hard that is for you foriegn types) you'll find it really isn't 'gangsta' music.

Dunno about the gestures, have to do something with your hands I guess, adds emphasis and keeps the beat I think.

b said @ 6:25pm GMT on 6th Sep
So can we just apply this silly standard to every genre of music?

I think I remember that in general you are not a huge fan of hip hop, and maybe not at all, so I'm not sure how much weight to put in your opinion.

On the one hand, I totally agree that when people simply ape the mannerisms and style of the street, it's kind of insulting. But hip hop is about more than "gangsta" culture and hand movements.

(Side note, I was at a local festival to raise awareness about a proposed oil pipeline in my province and they had a beats stage. One of the performers was a member of the Sailish Indian band and his whole schtick was directly ripped off of black American urban rap culture, right down to the stupid sunglasses, baggy pants and backwards baseball cap. Unsurprisingly he came across as unoriginal and obnoxious and was probably one of the worst hip hop performances I'd ever seen. If he had simply been himself and put forth an image that wasn't so obviously modeled on something he wasn't, his music may have been better.)

I fully agree with you that when white people, or anyone else for that matter, try and simply copy black hip hop, it does come off as insincere, but lots of people have their own style, their own voice and don't try to be something they are not. Lots of white rappers come across as people who love hip hop and are good at what they do without seeming to be biting a culture they don't belong to. Hip hop is about more than inner city blacks rapping about guns, drugs, money and bitches. That's just one small sliver that is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

ComposerNate said @ 8:53pm GMT on 6th Sep
When performing an a darkwave gothic band, I was always alone on stage or in crowd dressed as normal; one local girl nicknamed me the Young Republican for this.

After one performance, here recorded speaking and playing trumpet, I heard one couple referred to me as more goth than anyone.

Andy from Bella Morte once asked why I didn't dress up, show some individuality, that I look just like everyone else. We all got quiet a moment, realizing everyone was all dressed the same, that I was the one unique.

EPT said @ 1:40am GMT on 7th Sep
I call my cat a little goth because she comes in demanding attention, but if you give it to her she runs away scowling.

I spent my young adult years surrounded by goths, but I was a grungy boy. I was usually the only non-goth in the club (well, exluding the punks, of course).

EPT said @ 1:42am GMT on 7th Sep
heh, also, I remember seeing a pub band that had a trumpet, which sounded awesome. I said to my mate 'why aren't there more trumpets, they sound incredible'. He told me to look at the guitarists, and they were laid back and grooving away as they plucked out their tunes. Now look at the trumpet player... who was red-faced with bursting veins all over the place.

ComposerNate said @ 7:57am GMT on 7th Sep [Score:2 Informative]
Among trained musicians, real trumpet players are considered something like athletes, needing regular and strenuous practice to keep up muscle endurance. All musicians will degrade in ability while ignoring their instruments, but none as much as a pro trumpeter. 3-4 hours daily training is recommended just to keep up ability, bringing their mouthpiece along on holidays, etc. For improvement, 7 hours training daily.

I couldn't stand it, so my trumpet prowess peaked in late high school, and now I sound good for no more than ten minutes before exhaustion. Any recording I do is in spurts between long rests.

mrcucumber said @ 3:32pm GMT on 7th Sep
Lips. Spurts. Prowess. Peak.

Who would have thought embouchure would be so...titilating?

damnit said @ 10:37pm GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Underrated]
Here are different flavors of hip hop that don't conform to what people think they should...

Common Market

Bus Driver

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

CapnSilver said @ 7:32am GMT on 6th Sep
I worked with Eso when he was a carnie like I was.

-_- said @ 8:57am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:3 Underrated]
Sorry, but..
South African Hip Hop FTW!!

Fullscreen them ... FULL SCREEN!!!

!!!STATION!!!

(0.02) -n- <3's

swiggy said @ 11:51am GMT on 6th Sep
I would do terrible terrible things to yolandi, and then likely regret it immediately afterward.

Chop-Logik said @ 6:31pm GMT on 6th Sep

mrcucumber said @ 7:31pm GMT on 6th Sep
I....think.....I actually.....like them.

b said @ 9:19pm GMT on 6th Sep [Score:1 Underrated]
I would not regret it.

kichijoii said @ 11:16pm GMT on 6th Sep
"The regrets of life always come after."

captainstubing said @ 9:00am GMT on 6th Sep
I have seen the Hoods a few times and they are always value. Caught them at Byron a few years ago with the Beautiful Girls and that was a spesh night. I did catch Bliss N' Esso at Splendour last year (it was them or fucking Coldplay - no contest there) and I was really shocked at just how bogan it felt. It was ok, but the incessant, almost willful westie-ness of it all left me cold. And when grown men - and they are grown men - start talking about how their friends are so shit hot and just people I totally love and they are my brothers and on and fucking on, like Bra boys, I'm outta there. Grow. The. Fuck. Up. I do like some of their stuff, though.

loomspace said @ 1:49pm GMT on 6th Sep
CN:

Byron = Byron Bay, New South Wales

Splendour = Splendour in the Grass, a music festival

Bogan = generality of type ~ unsophisticated / uneducated type of person

Westie = Western Suburbs generality of type ~ similar to bogan but more urban

Bra boys = a surf 'gang' from Maroubra Beach, New South Wales infamous for faithfulness to one another

captainstubing said @ 2:03pm GMT on 6th Sep
Wow, forgot myself for second. That was pretty much unfiltered orstralian. Anyway, my point stands: B&E come off like bra boys.

underdog said @ 12:39am GMT on 7th Sep
I've spent too much time here as I understood all of that. Now if only I could understand that cross-country ballet game you guys call "footy" I would go for citizenship!

tickaz said @ 7:53am GMT on 7th Sep
Hey man I did that once here in the thread about the Brisbane floods (where I live) so of course I was using not only Strine but Brisbane specific terms like "indro" (short for Brisbane suburb Indooroopilly) and ended up getting +5 funny.

captainstubing said @ 2:47pm GMT on 7th Sep
Heh, yeah, I'm over at Newfarm, formerly of West End. I can;t think of many Brissie-specific terms other than place names. We should work on that. At the Gabba. Or at the RE.

eggboy said @ 11:46pm GMT on 7th Sep
One thing I noticed growing up in New South, people from Brisbane were always "doin' these ones".
"we're not here to fuck spiders" is another phrase I've only heard in good ole brizvegas.

manbaby said @ 9:18am GMT on 6th Sep [Score:2 Good]
Actually surprised this hasn't been posted yet.

(Appeared yesterday, coincidentally.)

spazm said @ 9:18am GMT on 6th Sep
Doesn't sound bad at all and they rock a nice sound but, in all honestly I'm gonna stick to my batch of instrumental hip hop : ) I kinda don't like lyrics, doesn't really matter in what kind of music (esp. a cappella), with some rare exceptions of course.

Ebichuman said @ 10:19am GMT on 6th Sep
This is totally random, but not sure where else to inquire about it: since this morning, Sensible Facial no longer displays comment replies--it just shows the parent comment in every post thread.

Anyone else having that issue?

lilmookieesquire said @ 12:38pm GMT on 6th Sep
I've had that problem before. I don't know if it was a tagline or mafia script conflict or what. Eventually it went away for some reason.

If you are using sensible mafia 1.07, try turning it off and seeing if that fixes the problem.

Ebichuman said @ 12:51am GMT on 7th Sep
I don't even know how to play mafia! But thanks for the suggestion. I'm glad it went away eventually for you--maybe I'll also be so lucky.

tickaz said @ 7:49am GMT on 7th Sep
It's Facial. Uninstall and reinstall.

Ebichuman said @ 10:19am GMT on 7th Sep
Uninstalled and reinstalled...no luck...

damnit said @ 12:55pm GMT on 7th Sep
It probably has to do with the number of entries you have at the home page. One of the entries might be messing it up for you. It might go away once that entry is padded to the next page.

Ebichuman said @ 1:12am GMT on 8th Sep
Thanks, hope you're right.

buzhidao said @ 10:41am GMT on 6th Sep
the rapping style of the hoods guy is not really my style, but otherwise i find them very good. thanks for the links!

Anti-fuites said @ 1:02pm GMT on 6th Sep
This seems like a good place for this

http://thebest404pageever.com/swf/gentoon_peruskayttaja.swf

Croatia said @ 1:06pm GMT on 6th Sep
I want to downmod because the thumbpic is horrible, but after reading comments I feel like I should at least listen to a song or two.

I fucking hope that thumb is not a group in question because that shit is Malibu's Most Wanted "hip gangster wannabe" bullshit through and through.

EPT said @ 1:47am GMT on 7th Sep [Score:1 Insightful]
That crouching squat (without the arm movement) is an archetypal Australian pose. I once saw a comedian who said "I've been looking for the most Australian thing I can find, and I think it's this", crouching down onto the balls of his feet, which the crowd thought was awesome.

eggboy said @ 6:09am GMT on 7th Sep
Huh, never noticed this before, now Iim going to see it everywhere.

EPT said @ 5:56pm GMT on 7th Sep
It's more archetypal than actual - it ties in with the bushman myth stuff. Your outback shows with bushman-of-the-week showing you something on the ground. As far as regular Aussies go, they barely go bush, so I'm not sure how much you'll actually see it. Perhaps it's a little regional?

Naruki said @ 5:10am GMT on 8th Sep
So, regular Aussies prefer shaved?

ithaqua10 said @ 1:41pm GMT on 6th Sep
this always puts a smile on my face.

Supreme_Coconut said @ 2:34pm GMT on 6th Sep
Psh, RiFF RaFF is the best white rapper around.

I mean c'mon, he's the rap game's Larry Bird!

b said @ 6:16pm GMT on 6th Sep
This guy is pretty goofy, which is probably why I kind of like him. And when you actually listen to his lyrics, they are pretty decent, even if a lot of it is silly boasting.

Apparently he is pretty widely known in hip hop circles as a top notch freestyler too.

Supreme_Coconut said @ 1:35am GMT on 7th Sep
He does a lot of freestyles but he's basically trolling rap. His interviews are hilarious. He basically says whatever to make a rhyme. He does it over some good beats and we can't stop listening to him at work. It's kind of a guilty pleasure.

Tsunemori said @ 4:05pm GMT on 6th Sep
From my home town Perth

b said @ 7:38pm GMT on 6th Sep
Big hip hop fan, but neither of these groups do it for me. Musically and stylistically this sounds a lot like hip hop ground that was tread 5 to 10 years ago by artists like

Brother Ali
Blackalicious
Atmosphere
Jurassic 5
Lifesavas
El-P

and others that had that sort of bouncy, up tempo, positive vibe.

Not to say this is bad, but it feels dated to me and just didn't hit me in the gut like stuff I really dig usually does.

Unfortunately I can't really talk much about current hip hop that I'm liking, because there's not a lot that I've hit upon. One current fave that just released his third album is Edmonton's (Canada) Cadence Weapon. Another guy from the UK that caught my ear recently is Flame Griller. You can find him on Bandcamp. Other than that, haven't been inspired by a lot of modern hip hop, or, at least, haven't discovered anything inspiring in the last year or two.

insanemonkey said @ 8:05pm GMT on 6th Sep

Commence argument about genre...

spazm said @ 10:35pm GMT on 6th Sep [Score:2 Underrated]
This is the kind of hip hop I've been into lately. SOme new, some old, def not that much in the gangster corner, but made with passion at least.

Flying Lotus:

Dibia$e:

Onra:

Samiyam & Hudmo:

Knxwledge:

kichijoii said @ 11:19pm GMT on 6th Sep
I think the sign that hiphop is not for you is if you only enjoyed the videos here that made you laugh.

chold_numa said @ 12:21pm GMT on 7th Sep

excellMint said @ 2:02pm GMT on 7th Sep
What's up with all the NYC garb?

headlessfriar said @ 2:08pm GMT on 8th Sep
An old one, but I'm not sure if anyone else on SE knows these guys.