Tag Archives: Vents

Event, Faster Louder, Music, Review, Writing

Hilltop Hoods @ Festival Hall, Melbourne

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I’ve never really got the sense Festival Hall was all that big until I saw Vents One and DJ Adfu on stage. With the pair on the sparse stage in front of the massive crowd, they looked miniscule. Plus they had a hard task, opening up for Australia’s most popular hiphop act, the Hilltop Hoods, and it was clear the crowd weren’t going to suffer fools lightly.

However, Vents One is one of my favourite Aussie rappers; intelligent, witty, with the right amount of aggressiveness in his rhyme delivery but with an exciting party vibe, and every time I see him he has rocked the crowd. Melbourne was no exception, as he and DJ Adfu bounded across the stage they got the crowd jumping with their rawkus rhyming, busting out tracks such as Hard To Kill, Five Minutes to Midnight, NBC, a new track called Rollin’ Balls, and even getting the crowd singing along with Love Song (aka the NaNaNa song).

As soon as they stopped however, the chanting for Hilltops started, and was loudest coming from the underage area. It was phenomenal and I haven’t heard that kind of noise since seeing the Hilltops perform with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. When DJ Debris stepped up on stage, and the video screen behind him lit up with decks and a mixer animated in the style of their record sleeves, the crowd went nuts.

Suffa and Pressure bounded out on stage, dropping Super Official to open. With the screen lit up, and the guys jumping around and busting out their hits from State of the Art, they filled the stage with their presence, seemingly growing in stature, no longer eclipsed by a giant, almost empty stage. They busted out Still Standing, speeding their rhymes and beats at the conclusion of the song to a blistering pace, welcomed from the roar of the crowd.

Feel The Vibe had everyone with their hands in the air, and had one of the longest pauses between versus that made the crowd scream with delight when Pressure dropped it. In between songs Debris dropped Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairies and they shot out t-shirts to the crowd. They busted State of the Art over Led Zeppelin’s I Wanna Give You My Love.

But this was only the beginning. Pressure and Suffa both dropped rhymes acapella during Last Confession, showing they’ve still got the skills to pay the bills. Nose Bleed Section was a crowd favourite, as always, followed by a new tune For the Ladies. And for the Light You Burned, easily my favourite on the album, they brought both Vents and Briggs (who played earlier but whom I unfortunately missed out on) out for a verse each. And I’m still astounded at how well the boys sing on this track!

After a short intermission, the words “Hill” “A” “Toppa” appeared on stage, and the lights rose to show these were LCD Screens the back of their hoodies, before dropping the hillatoppa track. She’s So Ugly followed, with Suffa lambasting the press for being so negative about hiphop culture. They called out the dude with the Hilltops tattoo and told him it was his round, and finished up with Clown Prince.

Being an Adelaide boy, I swell with pride when I think of how successful the Hilltop Hoods have become. From rhyming in the back yards of mates in the Adelaide Hills and weird festivals with less than 200 people, to headlining festivals and selling out their own shows, it’s hard not to be proud of their achievements. Many other Australian acts cast aside their roots when they reach a certain level of fame, choosing to go the easy route option to get cash, and ignoring those who supported them. The fact the Hilltop Hoods support lesser known local acts like Vents and Briggs who had beginnings similar to them, bringing them in front of the huge audiences they can now command, show that they’re as committed to the Australian hiphop scene as they ever were.

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Vents

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Vents is the latest signing to Obsese records, the home of Aussie hiphop and label for Pegz, Bias B, Funkoars and of course, The Hilltop Hoods. His musical style is pretty unique in Aussie hiphop, being brash, aggressive, and more in your face than most of the other Aussie hiphop which tends to be a little more laid back. And this is a deliberate move by Vents.

“I’m not really ‘starting out’”, when I ask him about his first album ‘Hard To Kill’, “because I’ve been rhyming for close to ten years maybe, and it was only when I started taking it seriously that an album actually got done. Theoretically I should have had an album out by now with the amount I’ve written over the years,” he chuckles.

“I used to do the same old shit, but then I started getting more lyrical and creative and thought I could go somewhere with that. I think I started writing better rhymes when I put my self in the state of mind that I wanted to be the best at the type of thing I was doing. Not necessarily the best at battle rap or whatever, but carve a niche for myself, and make sure nobody can beat that, not yet anyway,” he grins. “I don’t try and follow a formula which most new guys seem to do, and to me good music transcends genres so I try to appeal to outside the hiphop realm without selling out, if you know what I mean.”

Our talk shifts to other hiphop in Adelaide – mainly the Hilltop Hoods, whose influence has spread far and wide, and the Funkoars, who seem to be on the threshold of crossing over. Both groups have had input into ‘Hard to Kill’, with Suffa rapping on one track, Sesta and Trials on a couple more, with Trials producing the album. “I might throw Trials some beats and samples and see if he can do anything with them, and I give them to him and watch him destroy them,” Vents laughs. “But usually he has a heap of beats and asks me if I can use them and I’ll write something and go and record it, and when he gets it back he does his magic with it, makes it sound real good.”

I find it interesting that Adelaide has such a diverse range of really good rappers, and Vents agrees. “It’s weird. You’d expect, because they’ve got such big populations, bigger populations of better MCs in from Sydney or Melbourne, I guess,” He ponders. “I remember someone asked the Hoods a similar question back in the day and I think they said it was the water supply,” he chuckles. “But I think it’s the vanguard – The Hoods, Certified Wise, Funkoars, they never sold out. A lot of people take shots at the Hoods because they’ve blown up, but they’re super lyrical and I expect that’s had a big impact on the rest of us”.

I wondered if it was a class thing – all these crews grew up in poorer areas around Adelaide’s south. “I think hiphop is definitely a working class type of music, but it’s the same with anything. You look at any great group like Black Sabbath, they’re working class. Maybe it’s a desire to get out of that routine. I dunno though, I’m working class and I’ve never been hard up, never gone hungry before, you know”.

Vents album tackles subjects such as media manipulation, corrupt police and politicians and war. It’s pretty ferocious, and it’s clear how Vents got his name. “I make it a point to be anti-war; I’m not just against Iraq. Because it’s always poor walking class people going to fight for rich people and maintain their world. And I’m anti-State to be honest with you – they just rob the working class – those who make everything… There’s some commie propaganda for you, put that down” he laughs.

Vents is about to embark on an album launch tour, and is looking forward to getting on the road again after the successful Block Party Tour. “I was trying to take it easy, pretty much,” he says of his first time on the road. “In Tasmania on the first weekend we got fucked up, I can’t remember anything! I remember wandering around the city and rocking up to the hotel at 5:30 the next morning,” he laughs, “But after that I got serious.”

You can see Vents get serious at the official launch party for Hard To Kill on Fri 24Aug at HQ with the Funkoars.

24Seven, Interview, Music, Writing

Vents

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Added to the Block Party bill mere months after being signed to Obese, Vents is the latest signing from South Australia’s seemingly massive pool of hiphop talent. With an album dropping shortly, and the tour about to commence, Vents is excited about his future.

Being pretty tight with the Certified Wise crew, but never inducted officially, “well not to my knowledge,” Vent laughingly tells me how he got into hiphop. “Trials (from the Funkoars) was the entry point… that sounds so suss man!” he laughs. “The first big show was Culture Kings in 2000, and that set the ball rolling. There weren’t too many people our age going to hiphop shows back then, and I just got to know them through rhyming at freestyle events and that.”

Through these associations, and his natural talents, he got onto Obese Records as their latest signing. “The Funkoars’ manager gave a copy of the raw, unfinished album to Pegz (current owner of Obese) and he really liked it and wanted to put me on board. It was really that simple!” he grins. “And I’m really happy. From my standpoint I can’t fuck this up now,” he chuckles again. “I’ve got the record, I’ve got the backing, I’ve got the tour. I know that the Funkoars are really happy with them, and they done heaps for the Hilltops.” Production was helped out by the Oars, and Suffa of the Hilltop Hoods and others such as Robbie Balboa from Queensland and Morta from Clandestine guest on the album.

Vents is uncharacteristically shy for an artist when describing his own music. “I think it’s hard critiquing your own music, I think it sounds a bit arrogant and I don’t want to sound like an asshole,” he smirks, “but I guess I’d call it aggressive. I try and give people a buzz and make them take something away from it.” Aggressive isn’t usually a word associated with Aussie hiphop, and guessing there’s more behind his statement, I ask him about his influences. “I’ve listened to metal since I was about 6. I like thrashy metal, old Metallica, Sepultura, late 80s early 90s stuff with lyrics that have meaning. It gives me a rush – it’s real fast and pounds in your head, you know? I’m not really into black metal or death metal from Norway,” he chuckles.

Vents approach to music, either his own and the stuff he listens to, is that good music transcends genres. “I look for music that gives me a buzz, that’s original and creative and energetic, and when people follow formulas you don’t really get that buzz anymore. I got into Public Enemy, Rakim, people who just sounded different and sounded like they had their heart in it,” he says. “As a teenager I listened to only hiphop, and it gets boring after you hear everything. If you go away and listen to metal or punk or whatever, you come back to hiphop and you feel refreshed.”

“There’s a lot more people making hiphop now compared to when I was 16 or 17,” Vents says of when he first started getting into it compared to now, “and I think that maybe the music has gotten worse since it’s become more accessible – more people are working to formulas and originality is lacking. But it’s not just hiphop – I think that anything that gets popular there’s maybe 20% that is good and the rest shit. I don’t try and follow a formula which most new guys seem to do, and to me good music transcends genres so I try to appeal to outside the hiphop realm without selling out, if you know what I mean.”

Vents is excited to be on tour with the Obese crew, looking forward to meeting those he hasn’t met, as well as those he considers friends and mentors. “This is my first tour of Australia,” he says excitedly “I’ve been to Melbourne and Perth with the Funkoars. I’ve never been to Sydney and am keen to check that out, and went to Hobart when I was like 12 or something. I don’t know how much time we’ll get to look around, but I’m looking forward to it.”