Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as Onefour, Hilltop Hoods, Kerser and Bliss n Eso and having achieved notable fame. Australian Hip-Hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style. Since the inception of the Australian hip-hop scene, Australian Aboriginals have played a prominent role.
Hilltop Hoods is an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1996 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the "larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa and Pressure, who were joined by DJ Debris after fellow founder, DJ Next, left in 1999. The group released its first extended play, Back Once Again, in 1997 and have subsequently released eight studio albums, two "restrung" albums and three DVDs.
The Hard Road is the fourth studio album by Australian hip hop group Hilltop Hoods. Released on 1 April 2006 by Obese Records, it debuted at number one on the Australia ARIA Albums Chart, and was the first album by Australian artists to achieve that position. It contains the top 20 single "Clown Prince". It achieved Gold status on 8 April 2006, a week after release, and has now surpassed Platinum status.
The Funkoars are an Australian hip hop act from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The group is part of the Certified Wise crew of hip hop artists from South Australia, who also collaborated on various recordings. Despite being on hiatus since 2016, Funkoars are still rostered to Golden Era Records.
Hyjak N Torcha is an Australian hip hop group from Sydney, New South Wales.
Paul Reid, formerly Paul Gary James Ridge,, better known by the stage name Drapht, is an Australian hip hop artist from Perth. Drapht is a member of the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, a collective that includes fellow Perth-based hip hop artists such as Downsyde.
Tirren Staaf, otherwise known as Pegz, is an Australian hip hop artist and producer hailing from Melbourne, Victoria. He was the CEO of Obese Records—the record label responsible for artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Downsyde, and Bias B.
Burn City is an album released by Australian hip hop artist MC Pegz on 15 October 2007. This recording features appearances from Australian MCs Drapht, Funkoars, Muph, Vents and others. Californian MC Planet Asia also collaborates on the track "Diligent Music". It peaked at No. 70 on the ARIA Album Chart, No. 10 on the ARIA Urban Album Chart and No. 4 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums chart. The album's tracks were featured on national radio station, Triple J. According to Khalil Hegarty of The Age declared that Pegz "has made the Australian hip-hop scene his own." During 2008 he toured Australia to promote the album.
Muph & Plutonic is an Australian hip hop group. It is composed of MC Muphin and DJ–drummer–producer Plutonic Lab, both of whom released several solo albums before joining together to form a combined act in 2004.
Silence the Sirens is the second album from Muph & Plutonic and was released on 21 November 2006. The album took 10 months to produce and features guest performances from several Australian MCs and Musicians, including Fatlip, Pegz, Urthboy, Ivens (Awakenings), Raph Boogie & BVA and Red Ghost. The album is considered a classic in the Australian Hip Hop scene, due its blend of high quality production and polished lyricism. It peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Urban Album Chart and was featured as Triple Js Album of the Week.
Golden Era Records is a record label that specializes in Australian hip hop music and is based in Stirling, South Australia, Australia. The label was founded in 2008 by South Australian hip hop trio Hilltop Hoods.
A-Love is a female Australian-based MC from Melbourne. Her debut album, Ace of Hearts was nominated 'Best Urban Release' in the ARIA Music Awards of 2008.
Gully Platoon are an Australian hip-hop group, composed of Pegz with Joe New and Dialectrix.
George Kordas, better known by the stage name DJ Bonez, is a hip hop DJ and producer, originally from Sydney and currently based in Melbourne, Australia.
Joseph Lardner, better known by the stage name Vents and also known as Vents One, Vents 1 and Vents Uno, is an Australian hip hop artist from Adelaide, South Australia. He has released two albums, 2007's Hard to Kill and 2011's Marked for Death. The latter was nominated for an ARIA Music Award.
Ryan Leaf, better known by the stage name Dialectrix, is an Australian hip hop artist from Sydney. He was a member of Down Under Beats Crew and, since 2008, has been a member of Gully Platoon. In addition to his musical career, Dialectrix works in the construction trades. He was introduced to hip hop culture through skateboarding during adolescence.
Leigh Ryan, better known by the stage name Plutonic Lab or sometimes as Pluto is an Australian music producer, engineer, artist & performer.
The discography of Australian hip hop group Hilltop Hoods consists of eight studio albums, one compilation albums, three extended plays (EPs), thirty-three singles and three DVDs. Their debut studio album A Matter of Time was released independently in 1999.
Jason Shulman, previously known by the stage names Reason, Rea' or MC Reason, is a retired Australian hip hop artist, who works as a secondary school teacher. He released four studio albums: Solid (2000), Reography (2002), One Step Ahead (2004) and Window of Time (2011), before retiring from his music career.
