Horrorshow's Inside Story proves homegrown hip-hop is up there with some of the world's best, even 15 years on.
It’s funny how time and time again we see hip-hop dominate the charts….
115,000 people recently attended a single Travis Scott show, Eminem earned over 63 million streams in a single day for his recent album (The Death of Slim Shady: Coup De Grace), Nicky Minaj has sold over 3 million units in 2024 alone, Kendrick Lamar is up for seven Grammy nominations (three of which for a diss-track!) the statistics continue to climb and have done so consistently for some years.
So where does that leave hip-hop artists down under?
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The Kid Laroi is currently in the midst of a stadium tour with ONEFOUR, who just played to an audience of 25,000 people in Sydney. The (Hilltop) Hoods are about to hit a leg in Europe after something of a hiatus since their last album, I can only hope Sampa the Great is returning to an album cycle soon, Illy’s album has finally dropped after some delay.
While it feels a little like I’m name-dropping, only a handful of breakthrough acts can make the seemingly massive leap between a 200-capacity room and a 1500-capacity room (let alone a stadium!).
Now, Australia is significantly smaller than the US yes, and I’m not raising these questions to be critical of Aus artists or hip-hop culture – of course, there are far more acts carving out their own lane in brilliantly creative avenues. But with over 26 million people, why is it just a handful with hip hop?
Constructively, how can emerging acts in the genre be able to solidify career longevity if we expect them to live off their .004 cents off every stream? Does Australia’s ageism in music continue to tall-poppy our country’s best rappers?
From an algorithm perspective, streaming platforms actually have a tendency to draw listeners away from smaller grassroots acts (and towards larger mainstream internationals for example). So when you look at something like hip-hop in our country, where is music of real substance converting to in-person support?
Having attended Horrorshow’s 15-year anniversary tour of the album Inside Story on the weekend, I asked myself these very questions. Horrorshow have been an integral part of the hip-hop scene for nearly 20 years, so how is the act able to once again fill out a theatre capacity?
Inside Story continues to be an incredible narrative of inner-west Sydney – while being Melbourne-based myself, I’d argue it was more broadly able to reflect a progressive mindset in a developing culture across the whole of Australia. It’s swaggering confidence with unafraid vulnerability, a street-smart perspective that offered escapism with full-frontal address.
To me, Horrorshow’s rapper Solo seems to have found comfort in the artform of the music itself. That authenticity has seen the outfit reaffirm its longevity in a convoluted and complex landscape that continues to diversify how we engage (or possibly consume) hip-hop culture.
Now I’m talking about an act that’s recently lost its producer, manager, booking agent and label – IN THE SAME YEAR. And still, I’m watching a close-to-capacity theatre losing their minds to one of the most creative lyricists our young country has seen.
I’ve seen more Hororshow logos tattooed than any other hip-hop name, the line for merch is through reception and down the stairs, and here’s Solo waiting to meet every single person for a photo long after the show’s done. Horrorshow’s resilience in the face of turmoil is not just to be admired but to be learned from – something I feel the hip-hop community understands in its own adversities as a genre.
With the sad closing of label Elefant Traks doors earlier this year, it was truly a joy not just to see Horrorshow in full swing, but the hip hop community live and wilin’ out on a Saturday night. An incredible support set from Spit Syndicate’s Jimmy Nice, plus an intimate (sold out) VIP talk/Q&A with Solo, it reaffirmed for me that hip-hop is so much for than just streams and numbers.
“I feel like I haven’t even hit my best lyricism yet. Horrorshow is nowhere near done,” Solo tells me, and I for one cannot wait to get more on that inside story…
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