What Does The Future Hold For Australian Hip Hop?

Hip hop in Australia is, in comparison to many other popular genres of modern music, still somewhat in its infancy. It has gone through a massive surge of popularity over the past ten to 15 years, which just makes the question about its future even more pertinent.

In the third and final video in his Conversations... series, Australian hip hop artist L-FRESH The LION asks some of the genres current players what they believe the future holds for this style of music in our country.

Watch the full video here:

Race very quickly becomes part of this discussion, as Urthboy predicts there'll be more popular acts who break the mould of the white, male, Australian rapper.

“There'll be more successful artists that break the mould… The white male, The Hoods, Bliss N ESo, ILLY, Seth Sentry, Drapht, I guess those are the biggest names, they all share that in common. But you never underestimate the audeinces demand for something fresh and new and interesting and a new story.”

Kween G of KillQueenz also wants to see more people of colour heralded in the scene.

“I'd like to see more non-white people in the mix… I'd like to see the face of hip hop in Australia be a black face, because the face of this country is a black face.”

As far as the international appeal of Australian hip hop, Urthboy sounds doubtful there'll be any Australian superstars but says that, if there is to be an Australian to crack the US hip hop scene, it needs to be through the telling of the uniquely Australian story and experience of that artist.

“I know that there is a curiosity there, but when you go to a place like the States, we have an inverse scene – the white guys over there are the complete outsiders and only a few break through. There is a curiosity in the states to hear something new.

"A white kid from Sydney telling us a song, first of all we've got a weird, second of all it's selling ice to Eskimos; it's not really something they are seeking out, that white kid from Sydney. Unless he comes with lots of tattoos or something, he's a rock star, a 360 type of character, maybe that could be something that does cut through over there?

“But actually, no. It's the stories that they haven't heard. Those are the stories that are going to grow our version of hip hop internationally. I can't see any other way of Australian artists really making an impact.”

Does Australian hip hop have a sexism problem?

Racism in Australian hip hop: what responsibility do artists & fans have?