My top 5 favourite Perth MC's / Is Perth the most slept on city?

Perth's position in Aus Rap is very similar to Perth's position on the Australian map, it seems far away and doesn't get much attention from the Eastern states but I think it has some of the best rappers in the country. Home to Drapht, rich miners and South Africans, Perth is a curious place, I don't think I know anyone who's ever been there and it's always forgotten in the rap conversation even though its arguably the third most important city in the scene. As far as I know, platform-wise, the only channel based in Perth is Vinco and basically, all of my picks are going to come from there (sorry not sorry). To me Vinco is one of the most productive company's in the Aus Rap scene, producing merch, frequent live spits, and even a podcast, I've had my eye on them for a while now and I think they definitely haven't gotten the credit they deserve yet, so go give them a follow. On Vinco's Down Underground One Take series they've had the likes of Triple One, Shadow and Hazrd all big names in the scene.

5. Jose Halftime

To start the list I've included Jose Halftime, he's been doing his thing for a couple years now and has this lazy flow that hops along with these minimal, more ambient beats. He kinda has a Schoolboy Q type flow and definitely makes good night time music. One thing about Halftime is that he doesn't hold anything back when it comes to the production of his videos, he has some of the best video clips in the country in my opinion and definitely doesn't have the views he deserves. Halftime is the perfect way to start the list because he perfectly defines Perth, slept on. If Halftime was in Sydney or Melbourne I would bet you that his clips would be doing 10 times the numbers he currently gets. His new clip Standard is definitely worth checking out.

4. Monk

ahhh Monk, not gonna lie, the first time I heard this dude, which I think was on a 50/50 cypher, I thought the dude was trash. But Monk has definitely. improved to the point where he is one of the hardest grime acts in the country. He raps as if he has this energy that even he can't contain, which is at first didn't work because I thought his breath control and timing was a little off, but now that he's got that in order he really does kill it every time he gets the mic. You can usually catch Monk alongside Shadow as the only Perth artists at any grime set. 

3. Kota

I only found out about this guy about a week ago but he impressed the fuck out of me. I usually find boom bap rappers deadly boring, but for once I found this super fun to listen to. As far as I know, he only has this one clip up on Vinco but the dude has an absolutely effortless flow, and the bars to match, him and Jose Halftime would be an awesome collab. Kota is your classic rapper, no gimmicks, just bars, flows, and simple beats. I really want to hear more from him but it's clear the dude has a lot of talent.

2. Kodi Cunningham

This cunt right here is one of the most original spitters I have ever seen in this country, I know how big a call that is but I truly think the man has the potential to be one of the biggest artists not just in Perth but throughout the whole country. Half the reason I decided to make this post was because of his One Take on Vinco (which only has 19k views somehow). Kodi has this awesome mix of bars, flows, and melodies that I've never seen someone do in this country. It's rare to find rappers that can sing and Kodi is gifted with the way he's able to weave between singing and rapping within the same breath. Kodi has commercial success written all over him and if it wasn't for his small catalog he would probably be number 1 on this list.

1. Shadow

This one is an obvious pick for anyone that knows a thing about Aus Rap. Shadow has led the way for Perth on the national level and for most on the East Coast, he's the only rapper that comes to mind when you mention Perth city. I think the first time I heard Shadow was on Link Up Tv's facebook page, it was him rapping to Skepta's classic 'I Spy' beat and he absolutely smashed it. Since then he's done collabs with Chillinit, Signed to Golden Era Records and gone on tour with Hilltop Hoods. Shadow is arguably one of the best grime acts in the country and has the work ethic to match, his new clip 'My City' has some pretty hectic visuals. Shadow has represented Australia on the international stage with a live spit on JDZ Media and is really one of the main players on the Australian stage. If any rapper in Australia was going to have success overseas I could easily see it being Shadow

Why Skeaz Lauren AKA Skeamo is more important than you think

You might know him from the memes, his antics or his hilarious music videos, but as time goes on Skeaz Lauren is slowly becoming one of the most forgotten pioneers of Australian Hip-hop. Skeamo's main innovations came during his time in Sydney Serchaz in the late 2000's where Sydney classics like 'Searchin Like My Brother' and 'Fukn Oath' could be heard pumping out of nokias in Sydneys inner-city all the way to the west and beyond. Sydney Serchaz was made up of Sky'High, Nter and Skeamo, and somehow against all odds, it's Skeamo that is the last Sydney Sercha that is still active online. Skeamo was the first artist that really created a character behind the music. From his Polo everything dress code to his cocky attitude, Skeamo really started the idea of branding yourself to stick out from the crowd. Rack Lo, a member of LoLife in New York even recognized Skeamo as the Polo king of Australia. Skeamo and Sydney Serchaz were the first crew in Sydney that really embraced the 'adlay' style and attitude, they rapped on dirty south beats which hadn't really been done in Australia, and its undisputed that they started 'Gutter rap'. For the younger people reading this, it might seem weird but there was a time where Sydney slang like 'Eshay' was never used on a track, then Sydney Serchaz came along and dropped a hit titled 'Eshay'. When you go back and listen to older Skeamo tracks you might think it sounds amateur or low budget, but that's how all pioneers sound, he changed the course of Aus hiphop by introducing trap beats with an Australian accent. Artists like Rops, Alex Jones, Kearve and Son of Sam all took inspirations from Skeamo. As hard as it is to imagine, there was a time when Kerser was actually less famous then Sydney Serchaz, collabs like 'Gutter Kunts' and 'Pick Australia Up' introduced alot of Sydney hiphop fans to Kersers music.

"They were on that trapped out shit like 4,5,6 years ago and now everyones following the fad" -Alex Jones (2013)

"They started rapping to that south shit before me"-Fortay (2013)


"Sydney Serchaz is the crew! And Skeamo is the boss!" -Sydney Serchaz, Serching like my brother

Track Review: SOLOCHULO - Flexin On Purpose

Earlier this month I stumbled upon a rappers Instagram page, his name was  SoloChulo. He was an African rapper that was dripping in Gucci scarves, Designer jeans, and Bape shoes. Since he's African-Australian I assumed he was from Melbourne but after sussing out his Instagram I realized he was from my home city of Sydney, specifically Blacktown. I thought it was cool because Sydney doesn't really have any African rappers in its scene. The first thing I did after finding Solo Chulo's Instagram page was to hop on to youtube and see if the man could make good music, but annoyingly he didn't have a single clip up on youtube, until two weeks ago. The new song was called Flexin On Purpose and the visuals and sound were clearly influenced by American rappers, although it did have a unique West Sydney flare. One of the best developments in the last few years in Australian rap has been a true embrace of Australianess in the music and vibe of our artists. Solo Chulo definitely isn't going against this trend, the video has distinctly Australian elements. From the dice game with yellow notes or the cheeky African-Australian twang in the accent, I think Solochulo does a good job at fusing his inspirations with his realities.

Solo Chulo

OhGeesy ($horeline Mafia)

The first thing I noticed about Solo Chulo was his monotone voice. That isn't a criticism, actually, it's one of Chulo's best features, the monotone voice clearly added to the whole atmosphere of the song and it gives the whole vibe of the track a colder feeling. I couldn't help but think that Solo Chulo has a very similar voice to OhGeesy from Shoreline Mafia, both have an atmospheric voice that gives a song character. It's clear the Chulo knows what he's doing, the way he rides the beat and switches up the flow like 3 times on the songs shows he's either talented, been doing this for a minute or both. The track has some of the most colourful, kooky adlibs I've ever heard in a Sydney track, those adlibs partnered with a selection of gritty gunshot sounds makes for a really fun song. Without a doubt what makes this song stand out is the hook, it's by far the most melodic part of the song and it got stuck in my head pretty quick, it goes so well with the repetitive piano in the background.  Something esle that I think went really well together was the actual song itself and the music video. It wasn't too over the top, just like the song. It's your classic west Sydney video with the crew in the background; running amuck ofcoarse. There was clearly some narrative in the video, with scenes of Chulo brandishing a gun and later running down on someone. The visuals of the actual story and the visuals of Chulo just rapping with his crew are weaved within each other which keeps the clip exciting. All in all I'd give Flexin On Purpose a 7.5/10, i was pleasantly surprised to be impressed by a rapper id never heard of and I look forward to his next release, if i could give one critique it would probably be to try rap with less of an American accent but Chulo's career is very young and i can see him making moves in 2020.








FOLLOW SOLOCHULO ON INSTAGRAM  @solochuloo

**btw this will probably be the last time i talk about African Aussie rappers for a while lol