Brisbane hip-hop heavyweights Calski and Blaq Carrie have collaborated on a new 5-track EP titled ‘Chain Heavy’ to be released on 24 Oct. With Calski laying the production groundwork for Carrie’s storytelling, ‘Chain Heavy’ is the pairs’ first collaborative effort.
The meeting of the graceful lyricist and fierce producer has brought forth a captivating body of work covering vast hip-hop territory from b-boy inspired funk to 80s RnB. To get a listen to the new work, head to the Chain Heavy listening party on Saturday 27th Oct at Brisbane’s freshest record store Monster Robot Party, or listen to the album sampler below.
Krosswerdz Recordings (KWR) came together in 2009 in order to release 3 albums; “Unrelenting” by Wizdm, “It Is What It Is” by Oakbridge and “Bastion” by Brethren (Mistery & Wizdm).
It continued on from there as other artists came on board starting with The Profit, then Izzy, Bay Side Wreckers, Shelly.H, Reckoncyle, BRB & Sounds Like Dsipl. It is with great sadness that we share the news that the label has announced that it is hanging up the boots.
“After 9 years in operation it’s become clear that it’s time to wrap up KWR as a label. There’s been a fair few ups and downs but it’s been a dope journey. We’ve worked hard, come up with some cool ideas (like the 3B), collab’d with some amazing artists and released some dope music (in our humble opinion)”.
Although the KWR label is closing, the individual artists and crews will continue to release new music. Keep an eye out for that.
The WA hip hop heroes have a few big shows coming up to round out the year.
Last year saw the release of Perth hip hop legends Downsyde’s much-loved latest album, ClassicILL, and today we’re stoked to close out the loop by premiering the new video from its last single, Memory Lane. As the title suggests, the song is a fun, ubpeat look back on their storied 20 year career in Australia hip hop, a time that’s seen five acclaimed albums, a heap of awards, huge tours…the lot. And the video serves that time justice, featuring plenty of archival footage of the group’s good times over the past couple of decades.
You can celebrate with the fellas this Friday when they play a HUGE show at Jack Rabbit Slim’s joined by a massive cast of mates, along with a few other upcoming shows to round out the year – check out the full run below:
TOUR DATES:
Sat 13 Oct – Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Perth w/ Chisenga, The Manhattan Project, Call The Coroner, Bluntfield, Penny Purr (EP Launch), Modern Day Crisis, Lucid Reality, LAYBL, Audacious & Richo Kidd
Sat 20 Oct – Noisy Healer Festival, Muswellbrook w/ WAAX, Hockey Dad + more
Fri 16 Nov – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart (as part of SBX)
Sat 17 Nov – Zhivago, Adelaide (supporting Mad Child)
Tasmania it has been a long time between beers! Downsyde are back bringing along our legendary squad and some Tazzy kings too! Nov 17 Brisb Hotel. Feat @mr_grevis @bitterbelief @emjaysbx @mortarshell @robshakersbx @dunnfarkind @greelz1989 @bladel
The five nominees for Australia’s industry voted annual Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards have been announced for “Best Urban Release.” Familiar hip-hop faces in Hilltop Hoods, Esoterik of Bliss N Eso and 360 all received nominations, as did R&B/Soul singer Mojo Juju. Somewhat surprisingly, independent Sydney rapper Kerser was not overlooked this year and […]
The five nominees for Australia’s industry voted annual Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards have been announced for “Best Urban Release.” Familiar hip-hop faces in Hilltop Hoods, Esoterik of Bliss N Eso and 360 all received nominations, as did R&B/Soul singer Mojo Juju. Somewhat surprisingly, independent Sydney rapper Kerser was not overlooked this year and finally received a much-deserved nomination after many years of being unfairly ignored.
Australia’s undisputable independent king of hip-hop in Campbelltown-bred rapper Kerser has finally been recognized by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and nominated for Best Urban Release for his seventh solo studio album “Engraved In The Game” that dropped last November. Despite his previous six albums all charting, selling well and providing a self-made platform to tour the country independently all made off his own back, an ARIA nomination had alluded him until now somehow. Kerser has proven to be one of the most influential music artists of any genre in Australia over the last decade, coming from local rap battles to selling out his own major tours like no one before him has and inspiring a new generation to rap.
With a change in requirements and name of what can be nominated this year, we see the ARIA award for this category changing from “Best Urban Album” as it has been since 2010 to “Best Urban Release” as it previously was from 2004 – 2009. This change in rules allows two releases to be in the running for consideration this year that would not have otherwise been possible. Those include the 8/9-track “My Astral Plane” E.P. by Esoterik (of Bliss N Eso) and Hilltop Hoods’ excellent single release featuring Adrian Eagle “Clark Griswold”.
The five nominees for this year’s Best Urban Release award are;
– 360’s “Vintage Modern” album on Forthwrite / EMI Australia (Album)
A comeback album of sorts, 360’s 17-track album featuring Pez, Seth Sentry, I.E., Travy P and Hein Cooper was released late last October. It is his fourth solo studio album since his debut album “What You See Is What You Get” was released in March 2008 on Soulmate Records. It was not until late-2010 that his career really started to significantly develop commercially, with the release of the single “Just Got Started” featuring Pez going Gold as well as charting at #59. A number of Platinum-selling singles followed, as well as two ARIA-nominated albums in “Falling & Flying” (2012) and “Utopia” (2014). 360 was relatively quiet on the music front since late-2014 until he came back with a bang in mid-2017. A solid and widely well-received album, 360 is a strong contender to potentially take out the ARIA award this year along with Kerser.
– Hilltop Hoods ”Clark Griswold” feat. Adrian Eagle (Single)
A single-track release from the kings of hip-hop from Australasia in the Hilltop Hoods was enough to earn them a nomination this year. This is their sixth nomination (having won with each of the previous five ARIA nominations in this category) and their first non-album nomination since taking out Best Urban Release in 2006 for their “The Hard Road” Album. They followed it up with wins with “The Hard Road: Restrung” (2007), “State of the Art” (2009), “Drinking from the Sun” (2012) and “Walking Under Stars” (2014) with all of the original releases going #1 and 2x Platinum, with the exception of The Hard Road which has earned Platinum itself so far.
Despite being an excellent song with a notable feature chorus from the talented Adrian Eagle, it does seem hard to objectively compare singles to albums in this newly reconstructed ARIA category.
– Esoterik “My Astral Plane” (E.P.).
The eight-track plus opening interlude EP on Flight Deck / Mushroom Group is Esoterik’s of multiple award-winning, 2x Diamond selling group “Bliss N Eso” debut solo release. It also features James Crooks, ASTA, Spazzy D, imbi the girl and Ev Jones. Released back in May, the EP spawned the two single “Bless Up” and “Be Like You” featuring ASTA, with the latter attracting an official KLP Remix.
– Mojo Juju “Native Tongue” on ABC Music / Universal (Album).
The excellent 16-track album released in late August is her first release since 2015’s 12-track “Seeing Red/Feeling Blue” album. “Native Tongue” debuted at #76 on the ARIA Chart upon release in its first week . The project features the talents of Lay the Mystic, Joshua Tavares and the excellent Pasefika Victoria Choir on the lead single “Native Tongue”.
The lack of a stand-alone category in the ARIA awards for “Best Soul/R&B Album” means that Mojo Juju is up against four hip-hop artists for Best Urban Release this year. In years to come it is likely that the Best Urban Release category will finally be split into two separate categories in Best Hip Hop Release and Best Soul/R&B Release. The lack of a category for Best Funk Release, Best Folk Release, Best World Release further makes it difficult for artists in these genres to also break through and win an ARIA award.
– Kerser “Engraved In The Game” on the independent ABK Records (Album).
Kerser’s 15-track “Engraved In The Game” album is his seventh solo studio album self-released in seven years and features his ABK Records label mates RATES and Jay UF, long-time collaborator Fortay (of At Large Productions) as well as talented singer Alicia Renee. The album was produced by Allrounda.
The past year has shown Kerser remains consistently strong and also spawned arguably the biggest American – Australian hip-hop single collaboration ever with “Total Concentration” featuring Future, Young Buck of G-Unit and Kerser all dropping verses over a Ghosts In The Room beat. Officially Australia’s most viewed rapper on YouTube at nearly 200 million, next year promises to be even bigger than this year with his eighth album set to drop in February, a national tour set for March/April and further potential for Kerser to develop in international markets in New Zealand, Europe, America and the UK all on the horizon. Kerser and 360 with strong album releases appear to be the two clear standout favorites to battle for this year’s award and it appears we may see a new 10th ARIA award winner for this category.
Only once has a single song won the ARIA award for Best Urban Release, in Melbourne R&B singer Daniel Merriweather’s “She’s Got Me” second non-album single off his debut Promotional EP “Merriweather” back in 2005. An EP has never been nominated previously and a single has not been nominated since Bliss N Eso’s 2006 “Up Jump The Boogie” produced by LA’s DJ Hoppa that was the lead single to their second studio album “Day Of The Dog” on Illusive Sounds. Despite dozens of nominations from New South Wales and Sydney artists over the last 14 years, only Bliss N Eso (2008) has managed to take out the top prize with their third album “Flying Colours” a decade ago.
Last year’s ARIA winners were A.B. Original (Briggs and Trials of Funkoars) with their excellent debut album “Reclaim Australia” on Golden Era Records / Bad Apples Music, fending off tough competition from Tkay Maidza, Remi, Thundamentals, and Illy. The other eight different winners for Best Urban Release since its inception in 2004 include Drapht (x2), Seth Sentry, Hilltop Hoods (5 wins from five nominations), Illy, M-Phazes, Bliss N Eso, Daniel Merriweather, and Koolism. Before there was an exclusive Best Urban Release or Best Urban Album Categories, Melbourne hip-hop legends 1200 Techniques in 2002 won the ARIA award for “Best Independent Release” with the lead single “Karma” from their debut studio album “Choose One”. 1200 Techniques were hugely influential in being the first hip-hop act in Australia to win an ARIA and subsequently broke down many barriers for hip-hop in Australia.
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