As our Tone Deaf scribe wrote last week: “In 2014 it’s getting increasingly lazy to slag off Aussie hip hop. If you still subscribe to the stigma of Australian rappers being politically-troubled tank top bros, you’re really looking a) in all the wrong places or b) not hard enough.”

Looking at some of the local acts we’ve been excited about so far this year, hip hop artists have definitely been holding their own.

From the chilled stoner jams of Baro, the world class tunes of Milwaukee Banks, the confidently attention-demanding REMi, and the undeniably fun underground rave trap of production duo Friendships, it’s easy to see there’s a new wave of young upcoming acts challenging the perceptions of what it is to be a local hip hop artist.

Enter Allday, the local MC whose mixtape releases gained the artist a strong online following and international recognition, pretty exciting for a guy who was kicked out of his indie rock band because ‘he couldn’t sing’. He’s now about to drop his first album, titled Startup Cult, the record will be out July 4th via ONETWO records.

Who better to educate us on exciting new wave of local hip hop than an actual member of this uprising? We asked Allday to put together a list of who he thinks are some of the best local hip hop artists coming out of Australia right now.

Baro

“Baro is just ridiculous. He’s like MF Doom crossed with Mos Def and he’s 17. I just think he’s the best. As soon as I heard him I called my manager and said ‘Manager. Fucking. Baro.’

Now we share a manager.”

Ry

“Ry is one of my close mates and one of the best dudes you’ll ever meet. Ry got me my first gig in Melbourne and we’ve been friends ever since.

Ry has so many good songs and I think he’s one great song away from blowing up. He’s like a fashion aficionado and all his artwork and merch is better than 99% of major label artists in Australia.”

Peezo

“Full disclosure, Peezo is also one of my closest mates. Peezo got me a job at a call centre and every night we worked there we would take break together, walk around the block and talk about our intentions with our rap careers.

When I met him he could barely rap at all. Now his rap is some of the best stuff I’ve heard and his beat selection is amazing. Doubting Peezo is a bad decision because he works too hard to be denied.”

Dialect

“Ok so this is becoming a list of my mates. Dialect is literally my best friend since we were 12. Dialect literally lives Hip Hop and lyrics. He can freestyle for an hour straight, and I’ve seen him do it thousands of times.

He has filled countless notebooks. I have never known anyone to be more connected spiritually with his lyrics and his music. He puts such good messages in his music and has never changed up for anybody. I honestly believe he is one of the best rappers alive.”

WZRDKID

“These dudes are young as fuck and amazing as fuck too. The production on this song is next level. The raps are visual and creative. They just won the competition to play Triple J’s One Night Stand so I can’t imagine they’ll be unknown for much longer.

Rarely do I find myself hitting repeat on an Australia rap song, but WZRDKID have got me doing that.”

The Hated

“The Hated are crazy Byron Bay dudes who grew up with Peezo. When I went to Byron to play a show 2 years ago we went around to their house and they didn’t even have glasses for us to get a drink of water. Leeze (1/2 of Peezo) filled a saucepan with water and we passed it around and listened to Kendrick Lamar. These dudes just reek of coolness and good vibes. They grew up in the hardcore scene so they put on a brutal live show too.”

Mikey Hundred

“Ok so Mikey Hundred is my DJ but he also raps. His music is so rad because he shows a totally different side of himself in his songs. When I listen to it I feel like I’m having a conversation with another side of Mikey Hundred.

He produces a lot of his own songs and records them all himself. This song is called Self Made and it’s no joke, he really is.”

Ean Griffiths AKA Top Dawg

“Top Dawg is an awesome dude from Lithgow NSW who raps from his bedroom. Ean has Williams Syndrome but he fights bullies and stereotypes to put out awesome webcam raps like this one.

Top Dawg and I are destined to do a collab one of these days ever since he started commenting on my YouTube videos encouraging people to pre-order my album.”

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