Album Review: Tuka - Alive Death Time Eternal

It's a secret Tuka has known for more than a decade: being a tongue-twisting, lung-splitting, fire-breathing rap technician is one thing. Making it sound cool is a whole other story.

Tuka realised that his voice is a musical instrument before most Australian rappers. This EP is a microcosm for that discovery. Don't Wait Up is punctuated by breath control and flow tricks — complex rap stuff — but the end result isn't a textbook rap verse — it's an ecstatic swoon. The same could be said for Tattoo, and indeed the balance of L.D.T.E. Tuka the rapper is dead. Long live Tuka the songmaster!