Crowning Himself As The Country's Best Artist & Why He's Happy For Fans To Steal His Music

"I feel like I've accomplished everything I said I would… I'm at the peak of my career," he says. "Every year I drop an album and the buzz keeps getting bigger."

While he boasts that he is one of the biggest music acts to come out of Australia, Kerser, real name Scott Barrow, doesn't like to compare himself with other national acts.

"I put myself in a lane of my own. I don't think my music sounds like other people's music, unless they're biting me. I feel like I'm bringing a new sound and subject matter to rap about. There's been street rappers, but there hasn't been any artist in Australia that can say they've come from Campbelltown and actually made it. I've done what no Australian artist has done in Australia before and I didn't have radio play and I didn't have a hand in it until now."

"I listen to Powderfinger, I listen to Ed Sheeran, I listen to the Nirvana Nevermind CD."

Not only have his lyrics — which are often criticised for being misogynistic or based heavily around drugs and crime — stirred controversy in the past, but his fans have also earned themselves a reputation. In recent times, music stores around the country have sold Kerser's records over the counter only, due to high rates of theft, and while Barrow doesn't condone his fans' actions, he refuses to condemn them either.

"I don't condone it, but I've been in the position where I really wanted something and couldn't get it. I don't advise kids to steal, but I can't contradict myself because when I was that age, I was stealing CDs from shops. I'm not going to contradict myself, I'm just keeping it 100% real. If they can't afford it, rack it."

Barrow labels his fanbase as they most loyal of any artist in Australia. "Everything I've done is supported. They buy anything I put out, my merchandise goes crazy. They really jump on and support what I choose to do and they just stay loyal to everything I do. They're not hip hop fans, they're Kerser fans."

Though he says he was always destined to rap, Kerser admits that some of his musical tastes outside of the genre would surprise even his biggest fan.

"I listen to Powderfinger, I listen to Ed Sheeran, I listen to the Nirvana Nevermind CD — I listen to a lot of other stuff," he laughs. "Their music has a certain vibe that attracts me and calms me down. Kind of gives me a coastal vibe. I also listen to Pete Murray, that style I really like."

As for what the future holds, Kerser plans to continue to tour and release new material each year. "Ten albums in ten years — that's the guarantee," he says firmly. "I honestly think I can't stop rapping. I can't see myself stopping but once the ten comes I'll see what position I'm in.  We're going to go on tour in February in most of the major cities and then we're going to back it up with a regional tour. Then after that, it's onto album six."