Streets of Sydney

By the later ‘00’s, Australia had finally shaken off its longstanding reputation as a home for Rock ‘n’ Roll, as global audiences discovered a newer, more sophisticated Australian identity via electronica, dance music and later Neo Soul and psychedelia. But Australia has been quietly making world-class hip hop since the 1980s. A decade after Australia broke the world with new electronic sounds, a resurgent movement of artists is taking Australian Hip-Hop to the world stage, with Sydney’s much-maligned greater suburbs as its spiritual centre.

Far from images of Bondi Beach and the Opera House, Sydney's west and south west suburbs are not only the birthplace of the nation, but the multicultural heartbeat of the country, containing 9% of Australia’s total population. With waves of migration in the ‘90s and ‘00s, The Area (as it’s affectionately known by its inhabitants) is home to Sydney’s vibrant African, Pacific Islander and Arabic communities, mixing with long-standing Asian and Mediterranean migrant cultures. Growing up in Sydney’s west in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it had been known as a cultural backwater to outsiders, where white Australian ‘westies’ were seen as undereducated, poor and oafish. Australian hip-hop was ruled by white rappers and tales of beer, parties and BBQ’s, however as the children of migrants and refugees came of age and began to reflect the country’s new stories, a growing scene of future-leaning artists has largely taken to YouTube, circumnavigating a local industry that’s ignored them, building local fan bases and attracting global audiences in the process.

As a population boom and gentrification has seen Sydney’s western suburbs shake off its old identity, the area still hides a growing underbelly of disadvantage, crime and gangland warfare, where postcodes and cultural heritage are important signifiers of one’s status and cultural cache. Influenced by UK Drill and Grime, with tinges of US rap, RnB and even 90s rave, Western Sydney’s music scene, led by global players like The Kid LAROI, ONEFOUR or Chillinit, has offered a local spin on global culture with its own language. Partly borrowing from Britain’s Chavs, local ‘Eshays’ see Nike TN’s and Gucci caps become a uniform for 'this 'n' that' (petty crime in local slang), with pig latin a long-standing local vernacular, while Polynesian Australians bring their own language to confront white Australia’s norms, creating the newest and largest contribution to the scene.

Taking gritty new Australian stories to the world stage and gaining co-signs and features from artists including A$AP Ferg, JuiceWRLD, Trippie Redd, Headie One, Charlie Sloth, Dutchaveli, and Lil Bibby, it seems Australia’s contribution to music over the coming decade will be largely rooted in hip-hop.