In all seriousness though, Fatty Phew’s The Best Things In Life Are Free 2 is one of the best releases of 2011, this is a brilliant example of why the future of Melbourne hip hop is in safe hands. Production on this courtesy of Alter Ego is thumping whilst Phew is joined on the mic by two of the most slept on up and comers Luke Mac & Spit. Put simply, music like this should not be free, when it is though you are stupid’s mentally challenged cousin if you don’t get your download on.
While we are on the topic of local releases this week sees the release of Mase N Mattic’s Sound The Horns previously mentioned in this column so get yourself to your local music outlets buy it and send me gifts of thanks to 100% with a note for the Ed to keep their hands to themselves. The last album I want to talk about this week is the soon to drop Walk A Mile from hands down Australia’s best all-rounder Tommy Illfigga, an artist who truly reps all four elements of hip hop. The production team handling this is reason enough to snap it up, One Above, Trials and a man who is about to blow up nationwide for his production talents k21. Lyrically Tommy has constantly elevated his game since bursting on the scene and this is set to easily be his best work. Touring globally as part of the music meets acrobatics show Tom Tom Crew has garnered Tommy a global fan base that many artists wished they had, giving him a unique opportunity to break this music internationally.
Dropping back a little to what I spoke of in this column last time around has been an interesting debate on the relevance of YouTube views and Facebook fan page likes this week. Cantering around a young Sydney emcee Kerser, and the views on one of his videos eclipsing 100k, the debate here bounced around a lack of interest from distribution companies for Kerser’s debut LP and how much of a risk it is based on those internet views. Now there is no doubt this kid has talent and is doing some really nice tracks that speak of who he is and exactly what life in Western Sydney is like, he definitely deserves distribution and should definitely help a company recoup its investment. When some solid numbers were brought to the table it furthered my point on free downloads of music. The Hoods have 360,000 likes while Bliss N Eso have 330,000. Both sell out big gigs coast to coast, yet both sold only around the 75,000 unit mark. That’s well over 200,000 fans of each happy to get their download on, a huge number. I think free music is the way of the future and I still remain strong in the view this is an exciting thing for music. Incidentally Kerser has 8000 likes’ equivalent to M-Phazes and Spit Syndicate so he definitely deserves a chance to shine.
Finally I want to discuss some fantastic older groups touring the country now and in the not too distant future. We recently had Onyx prove to all who attended being fifteen years past your prime doesn’t hinder your ability to rock a stage, smashing it across the country. Aside from the soon to hit Wu-Tang and the cloak of mystery surrounding that final line up a couple of must see shows hit Melbourne town. Del The Funky Homosapien has been one of hip hop’s most enigmatic yet brilliant talents for 20 odd years. His work with Gorillaz brought him again to the forefront in recent times but his back catalogue is hard to fuck with in terms of class, he hits the Espy on Thursday July 21 and it’s your loss if you miss out. Next up playing the Forum in early October is one of the undergrounds finest and a favourite out here in Australia Aesop Rock. Last time he toured as far as I recall was Future Music Festival circa 2007 and he killed it live, accompanied by Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz this is a show you must see. It is again a really exciting time in hip hop as the tour season kicks it into full steam and with some big local releases still to come, get amongst it.
