With a stream of viral Friday freestyle videos catapaulting him into the spotlight, Melbourne indie rapper Ivan Ooze cemented the hype in 2015 with singles ‘Trippin’ and ‘Jimi Hendrix’. Now, he’sjust dropped his latest mixtape The Social Alien, and is heading out on a headline tour to celebrate.

According to Ooze “The Social Alien mixtape is a reflection of the good, the bad and the ugly from my life on this planet so far and how I feel about it all. Some will love it, others won’t, but fuck it, we’re all human…or so we think.”

Listed as one of Tone Deaf’s picks for ‘Local Records You Need To Hear’ – our writer called The Social Alien “blistering new mixtape” that’s proving Oooze to be “yet another name to watch on the long list of Australian artists who are redefining our country’s hip hop identity.” To celebrate such an impressive piece of work, Ooze has given us a track by track run down of the mixtape, stream and read about it below.

DISTRICT 9

This is the opening track of ‘The Social Alien’ mixtape and is just some crazy shit that depictsmy thoughts and what you should perceive Ivan Ooze to be.

RIPPIN’

‘Trippin’’ is about a time when my mother thought chasing a career in music was more a
dream than a realistic job. It breaks down the lows of what we both felt and that attitude
we both had of never giving up on something or someone that you love.

D. TRIUMPHANT

I put it out on Facebook for my fans to choose their favourite instrumental and I would write over it for my mixtape – this is the one that came out on top. It reflects on my struggles to get to where I am and how I feel about the new situation I have found myself in.

THIS ONE’S FOR YOU…

This is a heart-warming, hard-hitting track that looks over the depression I faced during the teenage years of my life. It deals with self-harming thoughts from getting bullied at school and how the other people around me would feel if I hadn’t woken up from the rut.

WHY I CAN’T SLEEP

‘Why I Can’t Sleep’ delves into the social anxiety I face some days and touches on what it
feels like to me. It also delves a little more on my depression and the reasons why some
nights I lay restless in bed. Teaming up with WZRDKID, it makes for a smooth, relaxing yet
chill piece.

JIMI HENDRIX

Jimi Hendrix holds a special place for me. My dad was a rock n roll musician and he first
showed me Jimi when I was 14; his single ‘Purple Haze’ is my go to track and it was probably
the reason why I got caught smoking weed at school! This one’s for the evening smokers
getting deep in that purple haze.

PLANETS

‘Planets’ is a spacey-feel track that tells you to go to that ‘happy place’ we all have and
become whoever we want to be. It also branches out to not listening to those people
around you dragging you down and for you to continue on believing in yourself.

P.S.A.

Fuck. Shadez. Daddie.

GIT GA GIT

This cantina boom gap track tells us to “never fall back onto your ex-girl” for any reason
whatsoever. There are plenty more fish in the sea to prey on and a couple little white lies
never hurt nobody when hunting for a one night stand.

MY DAY

‘My day’ is a chilled back reflection on how I try to take advantage of every day I have off, not letting anything get in the way of stopping that. This is an anthem to drink to for sure.

AD PASSION

‘Bad Passion’ is a dark song which looks over an un-loyal woman cheating on her man and
that there are no emotions going through her mind. The story is being told from the other
man’s perspective and how the situation feels on his conscience. This also marks the start
of the more dance-based part of the mixtape.

MT. MOON

‘Mt. Moon’ is a collaboration with producer Sable. It shows the effects of how I like to party with weed and how he feels up on ‘Mt. Moon’. This joint will be sure to get you nodding.

EROC

‘Eroc’ is a remix of R.L. Grime’s anthem ‘Core’. It is a fast paced track that barrels attitude, energy and anger all in one. This track is raw, and explains how I like to party and just get fucked up. This one is a game changer.

Tour Dates

WED APR 29Sosueme, Beach Road Hotel, Bondi 
beachroadbondi.com.au
THU APR 30Lambda, Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
SAT MAY 02 Ed Castle, Adelaide
FRI MAY 08 Hussle Hussle @ Mojos, Fremantle
FRI MAY 15 Can’t Say, Melbourne
SAT JUNE 06 Come Together Festival Sydney, Luna Park

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