I have to say, of all the countries with a hip-hop scene Australia has got to have the least amount of Africans which is kinda surprising seeing that most scenes whether it be the US, UK, France, or Canada, all these countries biggest rappers are black. For most Aussies, if you ask them to name you an African rapper they'd tell you Ur Boy Bangs. Who, before you laugh, is one of the most viewed rappers in the county, appeared in a KIA ad, was the first Aussie rapper on Jimmy Fallon, and in my opinion, a pioneer in the sound Lil Yachty made popular. (he also made all his beats). I know it's probably going to impossible to convince people Ur Boy Bangs is an underestimated artist/producer/entrepreneur/mogul so that being the case, there isn't really any notable African Australian artists. With almost 400,000 Aussies with African heritage, it really is surprising that there hasn't really been a proper lane for African Australians, of course, there are a few artists like Manu Crooks out of Sydney, but these artists are far and few. When you say African Australian a lot of people will think of Melbourne, home to a large number of East African Australians and the notorious gangs made popular by the media like Apex Predators. It's in these streets of Melbourne that 6 years ago a record label was born that would focus on African Australian artists, 66Records. 66Records is shrouded in controversy, one of their events in late 2018 caught media attention when a brawl broke out leaving 7 hospitalized and the record label was even featured on Four Corners ABC. Beyond the controversy, 66 records are producing top quality music videos covering all styles of hip-hop.
I'm not going to lie, the first time I stumbled upon 66Records I thought it was just B-grade American rip-off music that wouldn't catch on.
But after a couple returns and some new discoveries, my opinion made a 180-degree shift. Although the American accent is still there, which 99% of the time doesn't work and isnt memorable, I found that some of the 66records tracks were pretty catchy and even with the accents could stand up to any Aussie tracks id heard and even lots of the stuff coming out of America. The first track from 66Records I really fucked with was BBG Smokey - Only One, the song is clearly heavily influenced by NBA Young Boy from Louisiana and the Visuals could be straight out of London. The song and the visuals were well produced, catchy and had a laid back vibe to it, I thought it did a pretty good job at capturing the energy of the African Australian experience in Melbourne. Now don't get me wrong ALOT of the videos on 66Records are American look-alikes that are mediocre but there are some proper gems on the channel. Pronto - One Day is one of these gems that is super catchy and feel good, I remember playing this with some mates and it was a great song to just kick back too. Both Pronto's One Day and BBG Smokey's Only one are fairly new and hopfully a sign of whats to come. I can totally see 66Records dominating the Melbourne scene in a few years. I think the next step for 66Records is to just maintain the consistent uploads and maybe even reach out to others in the scene, I can totally see a BBG Smokey and Kid Laroi collab.
