Articles tagged with ‘MCing’

• Australian Hip-hop as a Subculture

  Originally published in the journal Youth Studies Australia in 2003, ‘Australian Hip-hop as a Subculture’ is an essay that applies ideas from subcultural theory to Australian hip-hop, relating the defining features of Australian hip-hop to the theories that the ‘Birmingham School’ applied to subcultures like Punk in the 70s.

  Tags: authenticity, MCing, independent record labels, four elements, Tony Mitchell, subcultural theory, community radio, graffiti, Sydney, DJing, breakdancing, Conference Papers

• Koolism’s Part 3 - Random Thoughts (Review)

  A review by Tony Mitchell of Koolism’s LP Part 3 - Random Thoughts published in Music Forum.

  Tags: Tony Mitchell, Music Forum reviews, MCing, production, sampling, Invader Records, Press & Media

• Sereck

  Paul Westgate, also known as Sereck from Def Wish Cast and as the graffiti writer Unique, has been involved in the hip-hop scene in Australia since 1983. He was a key figure in the western Sydney hip hop scene, and Def Wish cast produced what is acknowledged as the first Australian hip-hop album in 1993,Knights of the Round Table, which included the track ‘A.U.S.T. Down Under Comin’ Upper’, the video clip of which has become an anthem of early Australian hip-hop. Sereck also narrated the first Australian hip hop documentary, Basic Equipment, in 1996, and later formed a record label named after the program. After going their separate ways in the two crews Celsius and Kilawattz, Def Wish Cast reformed in 2001 and released their second album, The Legacy Continues, in 2006.

  In this interview Sereck reminisces about the early days of western Sydney hip-hop, the emergence of Def Wish Cast, their style and the people they represented. He also talks about his interconnection, via train travel and graffiti, with all the others local scenes in Sydney (Burwood, Campsie, Ryde, Redfern, etc).

  Tags: MCing, self expression, independent record labels, Hip-Hopera, Interview Transcript, Stealth magazine, production, graffiti, Western Sydney, cultural identity, vernacular, masculinity, Interviews

• Survival Tactics (Review)

  Survival Tactics, a hip-hop theatre show created collaboratively by Morganics, Nick Power, Wire MC, Sista Native, Maya Jupiter and BBoy Jay (Wikid Force), was performed in Melbourne (ArtsHouse 18-21 July), Brisbane (Powerhouse 25-28 July) and Sydney (Opera House Studio 8-11 August). This review by Tony Mitchell was published in Music Forum.

  Tags: four elements, Hip-Hopera, Tony Mitchell, Music Forum reviews, MCing, multiculturalism, graffiti, breakdancing, theatre, Press & Media

• Te Kupu

  Te Kupu is a founding member and MC of the Maori hip-hop crew Upper Hutt Posse, who have been on the scene in Aotearoa since 1988. Upper Hutt Posse have recorded hip-hop tracks in Maori language, and are a strong political voice for Maori cultural, linguistic and historical autonomy in New Zealand. They have toured Australia a number of times, performing with Indigenous crews in solidarity. Their most recent trip was in October 2007, when they played a gig at UTS with Aboriginal hip-hop artists in support of Australian Indigenous communities affected by the Australian Federal Government’s controversial intervention. We talked to Te Kupu before the gig, and he spoke about his rapumentary project, Know Your Links, in which he is filming hip-hop in twenty different countries, Maori language hip-hop, politics in Aotearoa and his wariness at the New Zealand ‘Kiwi’ identity.

  Tags: New Zealand, Aotearoa, Maori language, Maori hip-hop, postcolonialism, Maori culture, Interview Transcript, gangsta rap, politics, language, breakdancing, battling, MCing, multilingualism, Interviews