Various Artists - Making Waves: Hip Hop (Album)
If you’ve ever heard the song Mango Pickle Down River by M.I.A., you’d know that Hip Hop/Rap and indigenous music complement each other like cookies and milk. The compilation CD Making Waves Hip Hop is a collection of some of the best Australian Indigenous Hip Hop. Where M.I.A. was an international artist sampling indigenous sounds, this CD comprises artists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent and is released on Australia’s indigenous music label Gadigal Music.
Starting with the song I Can by The Last Kinection (Featuring Radical Son), the track starts off with a Spanish–sounding guitar, before adding the traditional sounds of a didgeridoo and then some funky beats. The chorus of “I can I can I can” is especially catchy. Another track by The Last Kinectionfeatured on the disc is the poignant Not You Time a song about a single mother struggling to make ends meet who takes her own life when her children are taken away from her.
Hey People by Impossible Odds is a contagious blend of Hip Hop and Soul, while also having some thought-provoking lyrics. The chorus is uplifting as it is catchy with a group singing in unison “My people reaching out to me/ Visions of one day being free”. The song What You Want by the Street Warriors (Featuring Dizzy Dolan) is a very slickly-produced piece of funk with a back-and-forth conversation between a man and woman ‘I know what you want, I got what you need.’ Very fine, indeed.
Bring It On by Wire MC is another highlight, with the minimal but catchy chorus of ‘Bring it on, back it up, break it down, blow it up.’ Australian Hip Hop often has the stigma of not being as slick as the American product, but this compilation proves that Australia can produce unique and fresh sounds, without relying on bland clichés but on hard-hitting, thought-provoking lyrics.
The indigenous influence makes for some funky mixes and blends and adds up to pure awesomeness.
