Go white boy, go white boy, go! Australian hip hop

The much-loved and widely admired world of the white rapper has been undermined and under attack as never before in recent years. An arena that was once the preserve of such formidable talents as Vanilla Ice (before he turned his attention to rock), Snow, East 17 and Scatman John has seen its seemingly inpenetrable fortress of tragi-comic dreadfulness weakened to its very foundations.

Johnny-come-latelies such as American’s Eminem and the UK’s Skinnyman have shown that white men really can rap, threatening to make what was once a laughing stock into a serious business in the same way John Barnes once threatened to do the opposite for black hip hop artists.

Charging over the horizon (well, over the radiowaves of Triple J and into my car stereo) come the cavalry. Finally, years after the days of the embarrassing whapper appeared to be over – and despite a valiant, though ultimately doomed, attempt at a comeback by East 17 – the land of Australia brings us Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods.

Named by a fellow rapper in the car park of a Coles supermarket (radical or what), they’re apparently four albums into their career, despite dressing in a manner that would see them kicked out of an audition for Goldie Lookin’ Chain for going too far. Sadly, I’ve only to hear the one track so far: What a Great Night!, but boy, what a great introduction.

Sample lyric:

“And it’s all love, and it’s alright,
Till we’re all drunk, then it’s all fights,
Then it’s all over, go home, go sleep,
Wake up, get sober, what a great night!”

One can only imagine the fun they would have if they moved to Blackpool.

I certainly can’t wait to immerse myself in their back catalogue. I may even have to dust off my old Smash Hits magazines to reminisce about the good old days.

Edit 24/09/2008: Since posting this, I’ve had a lovely email from the Hoods’ manager pointing out the photo above is of Bliss and Eso and has ended up on a number of sites after a mistake elsewhere became filtered down onto the sites of a bunch of thieving gits like myself. Newer promo shots of the Hoods can be found by clicking on the comment linked below. Cheers, Bruce

Word to your mom!