Oh how it warms the hackles of my callous, hateful heart to hear the Hilltop Hoods on the radio. It some legitimises my Australian-ness, my whiteness, my suburban-ness. Why if these boys can get jiggy with it like this, then anyone like them can. And I am one of the million and a half or so Australians that think that the next one could be one of us. We are aware of each other, we know that while it might not be cool to be an Aussie here right now, all over the world we are treated with respect and admiration. Even in countries in Iraq that is the first thing anyone will say about Australians. They don’t mind us. We are not being ordered to shoot at them by the Great Satan. It’s okay. They understand.
We are seen as like Canadians, only funny. Italians, but more warm. And so on. Our little cult TV shows become cult viewing over there. About every five years or so an Aussie Rock Band will sell a million or so over there. And if they can get away with it, why can’t we?
The only remaining hurdle, it seemed, was this hip-hop thing. In this country, except for an exceptionally few bright souls, the music was mostly regarded in the same way that Country and Western fans might view it.
But now here these lads are. They just released an album with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Before that they had a nice little career as a touring act. Now, when you hear this stuff on the radio, you don’t feel like cringing. You reach down and turn the stereo up, bop your head a little, maybe shout along for a couple of bars. Just like that.
5 comments:
I demand more poetry.
Noice, noice, very noice.
It is quite phenomenal how, in a fairly short space of time, this particular branch of "aussie-white-boy-rap" has become that much more acceptable.
Which is great, because The Nosebleed Section is a kick-ass track.
Update already.
It's become a phenomenon because it's actually pretty good. What those guys have done is taken the idioms of the style and localised them. This is much harder to do than it is to type. A lot of aussie rap sounds ridiculous, in a bad way, because they're so concerned with justifying their musical careers and such. The Hoods don't do that. They are confindent, and people respond to that.
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