Sprung Reign

With the March release of sixth studio album Drinking From The Sun, homegrown hip hop pioneers Hilltop Hoods claimed their third consecutive number one album in Australia, yet another indicator of their ability to challenge and transform the perceptions of hip hop in this country.

“It was like giving birth!” Lambert says in an unhurried drawl that contradicts his firm, decisive rap voice. “We just had so much going on at the time; it was kind of a stressful, stressful period, so getting it out and being able to reflect on it now is nice. We booked some shows before we'd finished the album because they were shows that we couldn't turn down – it was the ones playing with Eminem, and to do those shows we had to do some warm up shows, but we couldn't do them over here so we had to go to Canada. And at the time I was quitting drinking so I was like sobering up and we're touring and trying to finish this record and it's like, Christmas!” he exclaims with a manic laugh. “And we're like, 'Ah man, fuck this'. But it all worked out at the end; they say that everything worth doing is never easy, so I guess we could assign that cliché to that record.”

Despite being the most stressful of their albums to make, Lambert names an element of the creative process as his key indicator of success, rather than the accolades and chart statistics including five ARIA nominations that followed the release of Drinking From The Sun.

“It's definitely the collabs – that's what I get the most personal satisfaction from anyway, like having Black Thought (The Roots) and Chali 2na (Jurrasic 5) on the record was just a really big deal for us because they're people we grew up on and that made us want to do it; working with them is just really special, so probably that,” he admits, also mentioning the guest vocals of hometown friend Sia Furler on I Love It as a highlight. “We knew her when we were kids; she was in a band called Crisp. It was like an acid jazz band and it had a rapper called Muskrat and we used to go watch them play. It was rad to get her on the record because she's had such a big life sort of thing, and she's writing for all these people so for her to do something with us, it was cool.”

Unsurprisingly, the rather dubious honour of being named the most illegally shared artist in Australia by monitoring firm Musicmetric last month doesn't rate a mention as Lambert recalls his favourite achievements of Drinking From The Sun, though he finds it amusing nonetheless.

“I know everyone uses this saying, but it is what it is,” he laughs. “I mean, we're not angry or anything like that at all; I found it more interesting than anything – I was like, 'Really?' But I guess that our demographic is sort of like male, 16-24, and they're kind of tech-savvy and it sort of makes sense, but you know, obviously we wish people would buy the record because that would be nice. Hip hop records take money to make with sample clearance and studios and mastering and all of that, but at the same time I do like the idea that people that can't afford the record can have it. I definitely think because you're being pirated doesn't cancel out the fact that you can sell records as well, and you know things like Watch The Throne [Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration] and that, that leaked I don't know how many weeks before and it still sold however many quibillion records. It's not an ideal situation but it's not the end of the world.”

Statistics of this nature underline how essential it is, now more than ever, for artists to develop a first-rate live experience.

“We make predominately most of our living from live shows; it would be record sales next and merch after that, so as long as we've got a good live thing going, we're alright. I guess with the pirating thing, the upside to that is so many people having your record and you've got more people coming to shows. That's definitely a positive.”

After selling out their last Brisbane show in July within 24 hours, Hilltop Hoods return to headline Sprung Festival, a hip hop exclusive event for which Lambert can't name a competitor.

“I mean, man, some of the bills that people put together are almost – there's so many support acts they're almost like mini-festivals touring the country, but you know I guess the only comparison is Supafest but they don't give a shit about Australian artists,” he says, interested to gauge the vibe amidst the context of hip hop crowd. “Yeah, well that's the thing – the only time we've played festivals that were strictly hip hop was overseas, like Splash! in Germany and [Openair] Frauenfeld in Switzerland and that sort of thing. And when we're playing those ones we're pretty far down the pecking order. It's definitely different to normal festival crowds.

“I feel mad about it,” he continues enthusiastically. “We met the promoters when we were up in Brisbane – they're really nice guys and really good mates with Drapht who played it last year. Drapht was just bangin' on about how rad it was, so we're pumped for it. And Brisbane crowds are always dope – we always have fun in Brisbane.”

Helmed by a team determined to grow Sprung Festival into a national touring event, there's plenty of scope for the brand to evolve Soundwave-style. “I hope so man – that would be awesome…” Lambert says excitedly. “If they had the same thing in Adelaide, the same line-up in Adelaide, I think they'd get about the same crowd. And Sydney and Melbourne are no-brainers for it I think. A national Australian hip hop festival is probably the next logical progression.”

With the support and recognition of local hip hop artists at an all time high, Lambert sees the new players as holding the key to future sustainability.

“All I can say is what I hope, and I hope that up-and-coming artists respect the roots of the culture and pioneers like Def Wish [Cast] and pay their respects to their elders, and appreciate hip hop as a culture and not just rap music. You know what I mean, all the elements, like we did growing up: graffiti, b-boying, DJing – respect all the other elements as well.”

Hilltop Hoods will be playing the following shows:

Saturday 8 December - Homebake, Domain Sydney NSW
Saturday 10 November - Sprung Festival, RNA Showgrounds Brisbane QLD
Friday 28 December to Tuesday 1 January - Falls Festival, Lorne VIC
Saturday 29 December to Tuesday 1 January - Falls Festival, Marion Bay TAS
Friday 4 January to Saturday 5 January - Southbound Festival, Sir Stweard Bovel Park Perth WA