“Why I got ‘em all so bitter?/ Swear they gonna hate if you a winner/ Yeah, I’m medicatin’ off a pinga…”
Winner, the unflinching lead single from Kerser’s tenth and final record, A Gift & A Kers – which references the poison chalice of fame – lands like a victory lap. Recognise the sample in Like I’m Trapped? That’ll be because Kerser’s follow-up single breathes new life into These Kids by Joel Turner & The Modern Day Poets (2004).
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This self-made Campbelltown-bred rapper’s original plan to release ten albums in as many years was temporarily thwarted due to Covid the fun sponge. Kerser’s previous nine albums were created within four-month windows, between annual national tours, but the luxury of time – three whole years! – undoubtedly upgraded his closing sonic statement: “I honestly feel like I reached my full potential on this album,” he admits.
Within this 23-track set, every Kers style is reprazented: gangsta-hard breakthrough mixtapes (Seen It All), debut album The Nebulizer’s electro/hard EDM beats (Take You Back), the Sinima era (Never Be The Same) and beyond: “It’s 2023/ They thought they seen me peak, they hadn’t.”
He’s “never had a fuck to give” and Kerser’s rise from “poppin’ bars in [his] Commodore” to self-appointed “real GOAT” of the Australian hip hop scene is testament to “the power of the hustle”.
Label: ABK Records
Release date: June 23
