The Brag

Thundamentals
The Next Phase
By Nils Hay

On the back of their second record Foreverlution, and after some high profile support slots, Sydney-based trio Thundamentals are finally gearing up for their national album launch tour. “We’re really looking forward to getting that headline spot and playing a little bit later in the night,” MC Jeswon tells me, “when people are a bit more boisterous and open to getting into the party.”

Jeswon is also happy that, with a longer set to play, they can unleash even more tracks from the recent album. Foreverlution houses an eclectic collection of beats, from dubstep to Latin to the classic ‘90s hip hop the group are perhaps most famous for. With the departure of DJ and producer Tommy Fiasko, responsibility for the beats has fallen to DJ Morgs, and Jeswon speaks highly of how he stepped up to the plate. “I kind of feel like, with other producers, they’ve got this one style that they love and they just keep flipping that – but after a while… it gets kind of tedious. Morgs has managed to pull off this really varied sounding piece of music, and it’s all him producing. We’re stoked to have such a talented guy taking care of all our beats.”

A couple of tracks also feature co-producers, chief among them long-time friend of the band (and fellow former Blue Mountains resident) Dysphemic, who brings in some banging bass on the dubstep-influenced ‘Thunda Cats’. The whole group are big fans of bass-heavy electronic beats, and Jeswon admits that it’s a direction they are open to exploring further down the track. “I’m definitely open to it, and I know that we all dig that music. You never know,” he laughs, “next Thundamentals album could be a dirty, filthy, bass-heavy monster.”
Thundamentals’ eclecticism and willingness to experiment is a hallmark of modern Australian hip hop, and on some levels Jeswon thinks it could be time to dispense with the ‘Oz hip hop’ label altogether. “It’s an interesting kind of situation, the whole ‘Oz hip hop’ tag; what it did originally mean and what it’s come to represent,” he begins. “We’re Australians making hip hop in Australia, but I would love for my music to just be recognised as straight hip hop. I feel like the label of Oz hip hop being put on your music is a Catch-22. In a way it’s good, because there’s a lot of people that proudly support Australian hip hop, and if it’s got that [label] you might get a few more people buying it just because you’re a part of this Oz hip hop thing.”

The flip side, of course, is that it’s not all about sales. “I kind of feel like it is a bit limiting, and it does carry with it a set of stereotypes which I feel are no longer valid,” he continues. “A lot of the newer artists coming through, I kind of feel like this new wave of Australian hip hop – and even older guys who have readjusted their thinking on the whole thing – to me, it sounds international now. Yes, we’re speaking English and we have accents that are Australian, but it’s not like this bogan-ed up parody of Australia or this ockered-out kind of thing that perhaps it used to be.” While he acknowledges that years ago the fledgling scene needed the ‘Oz hip hop’ banner to rally around as it struggled against a nation of rock music fans, those days are over and hip hop in this country is riding an unprecedented (and seemingly unstoppable) wave of popularity. And the diversity in this maturing scene is no longer encapsulated by the aging label. “We’re not making barbeque rap anymore,” he says. “It’s deep; it’s as well-thought-out as any hip hop from anywhere in the world.”

Having said that, Jeswon acknowledges that even amongst hip hop fans, Australian hip hop sometimes still seems to lack the credibility of its American counterparts – something that hits home when the trio play in support of those same big American names. “It’s a strange thing – they’re there to see a headline hip hop act, but it’s like they don’t recognise Australian people doing hip hop as valid, almost. It’s this weird thing; do they even like the genre of hip hop?” he muses. “Quite often they probably don’t – at least not Australian hip hop. They might just like that artist or they might think that unless you’re black, it’s going to be shit. That sounds really fucked, but I do feel that way with a lot of the international support slots; people are just looking at you going, ‘What the fuck are these skinny white dudes rapping with Aussie accents doing up there?’”

Regardless of the stigma, Jeswon is still excited to be a part of the scene. He thinks a shining example of the positive state it’s in was the recent Sprung hip hop festival in Brisbane. “We weren’t playing this year, we were just there to check it out, and it really felt like a watershed moment in Australian hip hop history,” he recalls. “To see that many people there, for a whole day, to see purely local talent; I was there watching it going, ‘Fuck yeah. This is encouraging – this is really encouraging. Fuck yeah, there’s a future for this thing that we’re all doing.’”

What: Foreverlution is out now through Obese Records
With: Ellesquire, Ruthless and more
Where: Oxford Art Factory
When: Saturday November 26