I’ll put a good MC up against a classic poet anyday. Mantra has got to be one of the smartest writers in Australian hip-hop, leading the crusade against generic verses. “My inner demons are riddled with dichotomies, A Ripley’s Believe it Or Not ideology…” is not necessarily what you’d be expecting from many an MC. Have a look at this video – slick vision, slick song, all round goodness.
Mantra will be performing at the Going Down Swinging launch on September 1st, too, doing a brand-new eight-minute acapella piece that we commissioned him to write. Wait till you see the rhyme patterns this guy can put together. There’s another commission from Felix Nobis, too, who I still rate as the best performer I’ve seen.
Tickets are selling out soon, I’m told.
Special mention to this line too, Mantra: “About to lose my brain to migraines as my faint interest wanes and migrates…”
Heathen Scripture 
I haven’t yet hit the play button on the video, I’ll leave that until I get home… but…
Are they doing the sprinkler?
I used to run a live venue in Brisbane and really pushed the Aussie hiphop, much to the amusement of some live music people. This year alone there have been awesome releases by Vents, The Herd, Drapht and Funkoars. If you haven’t seen the videos for Rollin Balls and Where I Am, they are well worth a look, far above the old rock band playing the song in a different setting type clip.
Since originally hearing Got Me Wrong on Heathen Scripture, I’ve heard it heaps on triple j – it’s getting lots of airplay, I love it!