Remi Unsure Of 'Intelligent' Rapper Tag

Melbourne MC/singer and triple j hero Remi Kolawole belongs to a surging 'intelligent' Australian hip hop movement – but he's unsure. “I don't know if I'm intelligent!” Kolawole protests. Regardless, his latest album, Raw X Infinity, heralded by 2013's party hit Sangria, could usher in a new phase in the music's history.

The exuberant and funny Kolawole is seated outside the suitably named Cheerio café in inner-suburban Richmond with Sensible J (Justin Smith), one of his two producer cohorts (Daniel 'Dutch' Siwes is absent). The pair, both in beanies, are, Kolawole apologises, “dirty smokers”. The little-known Sensible J & Dutch previously masterminded much of N'fa Jones' comeback, Black + White Noise, and Kolawole praises their bespoke approach to music, the combo no mere beatmakers – even if they do work out of Smith's spare room. “I'm lucky enough that I don't have to go anywhere else for production 'cause it's a one-stop shop,” Kolawole enthuses over a hot mocha.

Kolawole, born in Canberra to a Nigerian father and Australian (actually Tasmanian!) mother, was musical in childhood, but never envisaged himself MCing. “I started playing piano when I was about four years old, but it was very classical, classical-based stuff.” He tried rapping “as a joke”. “One of my homies was like, 'I bet you can't rap.'” Kolawole gave it a shot. “Something just happened – I was like, 'This is awesome.'” He connected with Smith, his family South African migrants, and Siwes through his singer friend Jelena, dating Smith. She was playing their material with Jones, sparking Kolawole's curiosity. As for Smith and Siwes, they've been tight forever, the low-key Smith, a drummer, relates. “I met [Siwes] when he was two days old! My mum was babysitting his older brother while his mum was having him. We were neighbours.” In the late '90s the two jammed in bands together, then began cutting beats. Smith briefly went by the moniker 'J Smith' but decided it wasn't distinctive – and so adopted the 'Sensible'. “I've always been a sensible dude and it's just a silly nickname that I had.” Smith and Siwes conceived the RunForYourLife electronic hip hop soul collective with diva Syreneyiscreamy, Jones and others – and persuaded Kolawole to join. They issued RFYL Vol 1, a de facto album. “Everyone's just hanging at my house, the House of Beige – if they hear something they like, they jump on it,” says Smith.

While Kolawole branched off as a solo act, today he still tends to think of 'REMI' as “a group” – all the more since, aside from “mentoring” him, Smith and Siwes have been involved with everything he's done. In 2011 Kolawole & Co. uploaded the track Apollo 13 to triple j's Unearthed website, leading to a long and supportive relationship with the national broadcaster. That same year he aired two EPs, rapping over sampled grooves from musos as implausible as Baths. Kolawole dropped his first album, Regular People Shit, home to the memorable Ape, in 2012. Last year he circulated a mixtape, FYG: Act 1, encompassing Sangria, which found its way onto the US NPR's 2013 Best Albums list (“that was ridiculous!”). Moreover, Kolawole was named triple j's Unearthed Artist of 2013. “We are completely mind-blown as to why this has happened,” he admits.

Raw X Infinity represents a huge progression from Regular People…, Kolawole believes, because, at the time of his debut, he'd only MCed for a year or so. “I first started doing rapping just 'cause I liked flow,” he explains. Indeed, that's what his favourite MCs, like The Roots' Black Thought, do. “Most of them, they're not saying anything that's that important – it's just the rhythms and the patterns, and they're more of an instrument than a lyricist.” But he's developed into an all-rounder. “I've got more of a message.” Kolawole reasoned that, now he has a profile, he needs to be sharp – and responsible. “Ours is not a large platform, it's more of like a small diving board that's probably a metre off the ground, but it's still a platform.” As such, Raw X Infinity is a conscious hip hop record, with Kolawole bringing the “realness” – he tackles political matters, most pertinently immigration, on Ode To Ignorance, while Nigerian Sunrise and Melbourne Sunset reference his own bi-cultural heritage. Many topics on Raw X Infinity came out of group discussions, says Kolawole – “whether it's about life, whether it's about race stuff, [or] whether it's about when we're on tour and we see how drugs are affecting the people in each city that we go to, it's just our experiences.” Smith jokes that Kolawole could hardly credibly attempt “gangsta stuff”. Above all, Smith and Siwes have helped Kolawole focus as a writer. “I'm a rambler,” he laughs, “so trying to contain that and condense that shit and pick out all the nuggets out of the shit is what these guys do.” However, Raw X Infinity isn't consistently serious. Kolawole enjoys his “braggadocio bullshit” – as demonstrated by his current single, Tyson, disgraced champion boxer Mike Tyson used as a metaphor. It's potentially controversial. “It's weird – we get asked a lot of questions about Tyson,” Kolawole affirms. “I'm trying to be smarter about it now especially, but that is part of the whole hip hop culture – you gotta go out there swinging.”

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