Well what a weekend it has been for Sydney and Australian Hip Hop. Friday night saw Illy sell out the Factory Theater in Marrickville with local boys Spit Syndicate alongside and supported by Sietta who have recently signed to Elephant Tracks. Saturday night saw Phrase launch his new album Babylon at oxford art factory backed by a live band to mix it up from the typical hip hop he has been know for in the past.
Spit Syndicate as always brought their A-game as they mixed their set up, between their new mix tape, Best Intentions - Part 1 and their previous two albums, Towards the Light and Exile. The show attracted many other Sydney artist to the crowd including Skryptcha, Dutch, Crochet Crooks, Stories For Nothing and Horrorshow duo Solo and Adiddy. During the middle of the set Solo picked up the mic and jumped on a few Spit Syndicate/One Day tracks and then played one of his own, Choose None with the help of Nick Lupi, Jimmy Nice and of course Joyride on the vocals. As always the boys made plenty of time for the fans, chilling at the merch stand taking photos, signing various items and just having a few drinks with
the fans.
the fans.
The night would not have been complete without producer, M-Phazes provided an entertaining hip hop set with a compilation of Australian and international hip hop which included tracks from his own album, Good Gracious.
Illy headlined the gig and rightly so, with the crowd responding to his enthusiastic stage presence. It is no wonder that Illy is turning heads in the scene and attracting new comers to Australian Hip Hop. The Chase and Same Number Same Hood were highlights of the set but Red Light Green Light was definitely the crowd favorite for the night with Illy bringing up the majority of the One Day Crew, Jimmy Nice, Nick Lupi, Joyride and Solo to help him out.
Saturday night saw Phrase back up from playing at Spring Hip Hop Festival in Queensland earlier that afternoon to officially launch his album to the Sydney scene. As you would be aware Phrase took a completely different approach to this album with no sampling or traditional hip hop beat making processes. Instead taking it back to his musical rock roots. Therefore there there was no questions to be asked when he announced that he would be taking a line up of rock bands on tour with him as support along with a band of his own for backing.
His set consisted of tracks from his new album, Babylon and his second album, Clockwork. It was great to finally hear the new album live which showcases how phrase continues to evolve as an artist. Tracks like Burn It Down, Clockwork, Sky Light and his encore track Spaceship from his second album Clockwork were all exceptional with the live band backing him and his wife on vocals adding a new sound and appeal to these classics which we already know.
