Hilltop Hoods - The hard road

Some would say it hasn’t been a hard road traveled for the Hilltop Hoods going by the string of awards they have to their name. However, MC Suffa, MC Pressure and DJ Debris have been forging a path in the history of Australian hip hop since 1997. Proud of their Aussie heritage and values, they never felt pressured to imitate the American style.

“[Our style] is definitely more relevant to Australian hip hop. It always seems to be an issue with how other acts market themselves. We try not to think about it too much. Sometimes you just wonder how the American style is emulated and how it gets played on the radio. But then again, some people don’t even realise it is actually Australian until someone else tells them, as soon as they find out they usually lose respect for them,” Debris says.

Since their first release, an EP titled ‘Back Once Again’, the Hoods have captured the hearts of various age groups and music styles thanks to airplay on Triple J, NOVA and Austero following the release of ‘The Calling’. Their dedication to playing at all ages events and festivals such as the Big Day Out and the Falls Festival reinforces their commitment to their fans.

“With hip hop there is a very strong youth following. We get a lot of emails from kids asking us when we are going to be playing a show in their area, so it’s good for the kids to be able to come and see us live”.
”At festivals you get to step outside your regular circle, people give you a chance, they like what they see and then they go home and buy the album," Debris says.

Earning a reputation as one of Australia’s best live hip hop acts, the Hilltop Hoods believe that their live performance plays an important role in who they are as artists.

“I think the live shows matter just as much as the recorded stuff. It’s always good to have a quality recording, but it’s also important to perform well live," Debris says.

[At our shows] we like to use a lot of up-tempo beats and we also speed up some of the slower tracks to keep that tempo going. We like to be very energetic on stage and also have a lot of interaction with the crowd," Debris says.

The highly anticipated fourth album ‘The Hard Road’ will be released on April 1. With ‘The Calling’ reaching gold status there must have been a lot of pressure to continue the success of the previous release.

“We pretty much just blocked it [the pressure] out and focused on what we were doing and not to think about the critics too much. Having said that, it was always in the back of your mind, particularly with how well we did with the last album. Sometimes we would record a song and then think it might not have been good enough, or wonder if this is better than on the last album," Debris says.

The Hilltop Hoods have developed a music initiative which recognises the important role the South Australian government has played in their career. The initiative consists of a grant of up to $3000.00 which is put towards manufacture and distribution of a recording. In addition to the grant money there is also two mentorship sessions with manager PJ Murton.

“Every State Government has a grant for up-and-coming musical artists, but nothing genre specific. When musicians apply for a grant they are up against other music genres, so it can be like a lotto which makes it a bit hard. We received a grant which helped us with promotion and marketing for our release. We thought we’d give back what we got from the government but try to keep it specific the genre of hip hop. The grant is limited to up-and-coming hip hop artists who are in the early stages of their career.”

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