Australian hip-hop
Australian hip-hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip-hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip-hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as Onefour, Hilltop Hoods, Kerser and Bliss n Eso and having achieved notable fame. Australian Hip-Hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip-hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style. Since the inception of the Australian hip-hop scene, Australian Aboriginals have played a prominent role.
History
Early years (1980s)
In 1982, the music video for Malcolm McLaren's track, "Buffalo Gals", was shown on the Australian television music show Sound Unlimited. The music show was broadcast on Network Seven. The clip was staged in a Manhattan basketball court and featured images of graffiti and break dancers. The video left an impression on Australian teenagers, who began to copy the dancers' moves.The first Australian hip-hop record released was "16 Tons" / "Humber Mania Time" by Mighty Big Crime via Virgin Records and Criteria Productions in 1987. The Melbourne-based duo soon disbanded. In 1991, both were members of flower power group, Freaked Out Flower Children.
Gerry Bloustein wrote in the book Musical Visions that Blaze claimed the first "true hip hop" release was, "Combined Talent" / "My Destiny" in 1988 by Just Us.
In 1988, the first compilation of Australian rap, Down Under by Law, was released. It included tracks by Westside Posse, Mighty Big Crime, Swoop, Sharline and Fly Girl 3.
Two Western Australian hip-hop bands, Def Threat and Gangstarr, both released recordings in 1987. The Def Threat's EP, Girls Never learn, reached No. 4 in the WA Independent music charts. Def Threat played a number of gigs over the next 12 months and then disbanded. Gangstarr survived for a few more years.
Major label releases (1990s)
In the late 1980s, Sound Unlimited Posse signed with Sony Music, thereby becoming the first Australian hip-hop group signed on to a major record label. In 1992, they released the first major-label Australian hip-hop album titled A Postcard from the Edge of the Under-side.In 1991, a 16-year-old Sydney-based solo artist named KIC was signed to Columbia/SME Records. His first single, "Bring Me On", was popular in Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Also in 1992, independent label company Random Records released Def Wish Cast's album Knights of the Underground Table. After 1992, independent CDs and tapes were released by various artists, primarily from the western suburbs of Sydney, a largely immigrant-populated area largely known as a working class, underprivileged, and crime-ridden area.
MC Opi who was a dancehall artist, who co-produced with , Australian Broadcasting Corporation Triple J and Womadelaide producer, the 1991 Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio documentary the first ABC radio documentary about Australian female dancehall and hip-hop artists. This documentary featured interviews with Charlene, No.1 Jamaican & US female Dancehall artist , New Zealand Hip Hop Group Moana and the Moahunters, Sydney Hip Hop Artist and others.
Millennial era (2000s)
The Melbourne hip-hop group 1200 Techniques was formed in 1997 by "old-school" 1980s B-boy/aerosol artist DJ Peril.The group consisted of DJ Peril on production, turntables, and percussion; his brother Kem on guitar; and N'fa on vocals. They released an EP in 2001 called Infinite Styles with the independent label company Rubber Records. 1200 Techniques later released one of the first hip-hop crossover hits, a track called "Karma". The song spawned the first ARIA Award for a hip-hop act in Australia, even before there was a hip-hop category. Additionally "Karma" won Michael Gracey an ARIA in the same year for Best Video. In 2003, the band released the first Australian hip-hop DVD titled One Time Live, which featured the band's music videos, live footage and two short documentaries. Their second album, Consistency Theory, was released in 2004.Two of the first major Australian hip-hop labels were founded during this era; Obese Records in Melbourne, founded by Pegz, and Elefant Traks in Sydney, founded by Kenny Sabir. The core members of the Elefant Traks label would go on to form their own hip-hop group, The Herd in 2001. Their self-titled debut album featured their first hit, "Scallops", which gained significant airplay on Triple J and has even been hailed as an "Aussie backyard anthem"
File:Hilltop Hoods.jpg|thumb|right|Hilltop Hoods, an Australian hip-hop group, has been awarded several ARIA Music Awards.
By the early 2000s, the Australian Record Industry Association began to recognise the growing interest in hip-hop in Australia. In 2004, ARIA introduced a new category in its annual awards: Best Urban Album. The inaugural award was won by Koolism for their album, Random Thoughts. Koolism DJ Danielsan dedicated the award to the "Australian hip-hop community" and exclaimed: "Be yourselves, keep it real, enough of that American wannabe trash". For the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, new categories of awards were created for Best Hip Hop Release and Best Soul/R&B Release, which were previously combined in the Best Urban Release category.
At the 2006 and 2007 ARIA Awards, the Urban award was won by Hilltop Hoods for its albums The Hard Road and The Hard Road: Restrung, respectively. The Hard Road also became the first Australian hip-hop album to rank number 1 on the ARIA Charts in 2006. Other artists who have won the award include Bliss n Eso, for their album Flying Colours, and Melbourne artist Illy, for his album Bring it Back, released on the Obese Records label.
Australian hip-hop artists have also received international recognition, with The Kid Laroi being one of the few Australian rappers to achieve mainstream success worldwide. Hilltop Hoods appeared on US hip-hop group CunninLynguists' 2009 album, Strange Journey Volume One, on the song "Nothing But Strangeness". In October 2014, Australian artist K21 appeared on a song, titled "Pas rentable", by French hip-hop artist LinkRust.
There are very few women in the Australian hip-hop scene, with Layla, A-Love and Sampa the Great being the few notable examples.
Style and influences
Australian hip-hop artists are strongly influenced by African American and Latino rappers from the US, and continue to incorporate such influences into their music. Australian artists, however, still utilise an authentic and unique style in their own music. Like many hip-hop scenes outside the US, some Australian hip-hop artists and groups have been influenced by funk, jazz, dembow, rock, blues, country, and roots and have also incorporated live instruments into their sound. Indigenous Australian culture is also a strong influence for many hip-hop artists.While hip-hop artists in the US are predominantly African American, many Australian hip-hop artists are of Anglo heritage. Numerous Australian hip-hop artists, including N'fa, Remi, Sampa the Great, Diafrix, Tkay Maidza, Miracle, Vida Sunshyne, KillaQueenz, are of African descent, which has influenced their music.
DJs
Turntablists and hip-hop DJs have played a pivotal role in the growth of Australian hip-hop, shaping live performances, battle culture, and recorded output.These artists have produced mixtapes, DJ tools, break records, and remixes that have been widely circulated among both Australian and international DJs.
File:DJ Bonez - Cerfified.png|thumb|DJ Bonez performing on turntables alongside in the video for "" featuring Funkoars, taken from the album Roll Call
Notable among them is DJ Bonez, active since the mid-1990s and described as being at the forefront of Australian DJ'ing culture. Bonez has produced battle records tailored for club DJs and turntablists, as well as remix records and party anthems that became staples for club DJs and competitive DJs via DMC and ITF international competitions. In 1999, DJ Bonez and DJ ASK released Raiders of the Lost Crate, regarded as the first Australian battle record catered for DJs; DJ Bonez then continued to release notable titles including Bone Breaks – Australasian Dragon Edition. He is also regarded as one of the few Australian hip-hop DJs to have released full albums featuring other artists, most notably on his 2007 release Roll Call, a practice he continues to this day.
File:Bliss N Eso @ Sir Stewart Bovell Park .jpg|thumb|Bliss n Eso consists of an American and two Australians. According to Bliss, "When I to Australia , I met Eso and he was the only guy at my school into hip-hop. It was so scarce you'd be lucky to find a hip-hop record in a store let alone a whole section." Eso is seen here performing in 2011.
Indigenous Australian Hip-Hop
Since the early 1980s, many indigenous crews have used hip-hop as an outlet to vent their frustration against racial injustice and discrimination. Though not at the forefront of the Australian hip-hop scene, Aboriginal rappers such as Brothablack, the South West Syndicate, Local Knowledge, Lez Beckett and the Native Ryme Syndicate produce songs that address the cultural situation of Indigenous Australians. One of their musical influences is the American hip-hop group, Public Enemy.Munkimuk works on community-based educational hip-hop projects around Australia, such as 1999's Desert Rap, conducted with Brothablack from South West Syndicate and Morganics. The Desert Rap project was organised with Tony Collins from Triple J, which made an ABC TV documentary. Munkimuk also hosts a nationally syndicated weekly radio program called "Indij Hip Hop Show", which is produced by Koori Radio in Sydney.
Briggs, a Yorta Yorta man from the rural location of Shepparton, became a prominent feature of the Australian hip-hop scene since he began his career as an independent artist in 2005. In August 2014, he released his sophomore studio album, Sheplife, on the Golden Era Records label, owned by Hilltop Hoods. As of 2012, Briggs has been the recipient of two Deadly Awards nominations and received the "Best New Talent" award at the 2014 National Indigenous Music Awards.
Indigenous producer and MC Daniel Rankine, of the Adelaide trio Funkoars and Golden Era Records, also releases his own work, including occasional solo work. Rankine's production credits include Drapht, Vents, Reason, Cross Bred Mongrels and K21, while he has provided guest verses for Purpose, Hilltop Hoods, and the Golden Era mixtapes. Trials and Briggs performed together at the "Beat The Drum" event for the Triple J Radio station on 16 January 2015, and released their debut album as the group A.B. Original, titled Reclaim Australia, in 2016.