Here's our shout out to the freshest and finest rappers blazing their way through the Melbourne underground scene.
With the recent barrage of releases from Melbourne’s hip-hop acts, the city’s underground is slowly becoming a surface for talented MCs to plant their flag on.
Artists from all different ethnic and sonic backgrounds have been hard at work dropping new material. Neo-soul, jazz fusion, boom-bap and industrial are just some of the styles that can be heard echoing throughout Melbourne clubs and basements – the scene feels like a vibrant firework just minutes away from blowing up.
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Despite dealing with cultural gaps and a local music scene that’s seemingly dominated by indie rock, these hip-hop artists are not prepared to throw in the towel anytime soon.
Throwing jabs from left, right and centre, they are coming into the game with an underdog solidarity and bars that are poised to take them to the top of the local scene and beyond. Read on for a list of some of our favourite up-and-coming rappers in Melbourne.
Agung Mango
With killer flows, catchy hooks and a diverse production set, Agung Mango is everything you want in a performer. As a member of the hip-hop collective Picked Last, the rapper has been making waves since 2018 with numerous singles and collaborations with both singers and rappers.
Agung’s latest EP MAN ON THE GO had him collaborate with local talents Genesis Owusu, MAMMOTH. and A81yann and won the award for Music Victoria Awards’ Best Hip Hop Work for 2023. He is adding to the momentum of this recognition with the recent release of his aggressive and hard-hitting single GUTS, along with a music video for the track.
VOLDY
South African-born rapper and singer VOLDY doesn’t just bring erudite bars to the table, but also serves a soulful blend of lead vocals and harmonies that will feel butter-smooth on your ears. Naming the likes of Anderson Paak., Saba and Goldlink as his inspirations, the multi-talented artist aims to exercise his versatility in bringing the soulfulness of hip-hop back into fashion.
In his debut mixtape Solplay Tape, Vol. 1, VOLDY demonstrates his elasticity as both a rapper and singer, blending neo-soul, hip-hop, and amapiano. In his songs, he discusses the challenges of growing up in a foreign city with a large white population where he must deal with discrimination.
Jaal
As an Australian-born South Sudanese rapper based in Southeast Melbourne, Jaal is determined to bring originality while also paying homage to his roots. Although citing classic American acts such as Nas, A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr as his inspirations, the rapper prioritizes representing his indigenous identity in developing his art.
His latest EP YOU ONLY DIE ONCE features silky, serene flows with a wonderful blend of late 80s boom-bap and ambient samples. In the project, he talks about the trials and tribulations of his journey as a musician while keeping a reassuring aura that can serve as a beacon of light to listeners.
MAMMOTH.
Emerging from Melbourne’s West, MAMMOTH. is the second entry from the Picked Last collective. The introspective artist has been flexing his tusks around the city’s underground hip-hop scene as of late.
His latest EP Traces Of A Star released in 2023 features beautiful, poetic deliveries on top of gorgeous jazz and soul-oriented beats provided by producer chub.e. He was recently named among the winners of Triple J’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) competition and just like his fellow collective member Agung, the MC was also 2022’s Music Victoria Awards winner for Best Hip-Hop work alongside producer Silentjay.
FLY BOY JACK
FLY BOY JACK is the two-headed monster consisting of Jordan Dennis‘ rhymes and JUJO‘s beats. The duo has been making waves ever since their inception in 2021 and with each release, have shown a different side of their dynamism that makes it difficult to label their sound in a specific category.
Their latest album 777 released at the end of 2023 features colourful instrumentals and samples from JUJO that nicely complements Jordan’s infectious melodic flows. The project also features a wonderfully arranged set of features from artists such as Subnet, Yung Shōgun, Ivan Ooze and numerous others.
SRIRACHI
Bold, daring and tough, SRIRACHI effortlessly blends sass and confidence creating an artistry that will grab your attention right from the first bar.
Her latest EP released in 2023 SRIRACHI SAFARI has her having fun with the most unapologetic verses on top of groovy fast-paced Jersey club production. The project is based on the Vietnamese-Australian’s real-life experiences of navigating through unknown territory after leaving her parent’s house. It promotes ideas of body positivity, self-love as well as feminine independence.
Yung Shōgun
Born and raised in Melbourne by a mother who loved blues, jazz and hip-hop and a stepfather who had a passion for heavy metal, Yung Shōgun’s music compounds to an intrinsic ratio of two different musical spheres.
His talent is very well recognized by the city’s fellow artists having been featured on tracks from the likes of MorningMaxwell, FLY BOY JACK, JUJO and a few others. The new single DO i DO released earlier this year contains an angelic sample from old-school South London soul singer Sandra Cross’ Stop, Look, Listen and a rap delivery full of menace that will get your head inevitably bopping from start to finish.
Teether
Teether combines deep vocals and non-conventional beat choices in his tracks to create a menacing and beautifully dark sound.
The Footscray-born rapper is part of the Melbourne rap group Too Birds and has collaborated with the likes of fellow group member Realname and New York rapper Billy Woods among many others. His most recent album GLYPH with producer Kuya Neil is an impressive follow-up to their previous collaboration project STRESSOR which combines trap, industrial and ambient musical styles.
For more on the Melbourne hip-hop scene, head here.
