INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Melbourne rap dude Allday is here to announce a new phase in Australian hip hop. Statements of superiority are nothing new in this genre, but Allday’s debut LP is particularly impressive because it’s actually fairly convincing.
At 15 tracks long, Startup Cult could’ve used some editing, but thanks to consistent production quality, the record’s stylistic diversity isn’t a disruption. We’re given boom-bap beats and edgy street sounds resembling the current Top Dawg-led West Coast resurgence. And the album’s second half even dips into the world of neo-soul and R&B. Except for a few cringeworthy instances (i.e. ‘Wolves’ and ‘Hometown Pride’), frequent guest vocal hooks are smoothly implemented. The record’s leading attribute, however, is the rhyme work.
With padlock-tight flow, Allday covers personal topics, such as drinking through frustration, partying too hard and missing home, without forcing specific experiences down your throat. Ultimately it comes across as a relaying of committed self-belief.
Startup Cult is basically summed up in its opening crusade, ‘Got It’. The track focuses on how our narrator has “got it”. Why should we care? Well, aside from the fact that “bitches love [him]” it’s because “this shit’s all from the heart, eh”.
4/5.
Startup Cultis out now through Onetwo.
