The Very Good Agency

Wu Tang, Wu Tang, Wu Tang

Not everyone in the photo made it to Australia for the first time, about 15 years after Wu Tang beat the shit out of the world scene… but some of them did, and from what we’ve heard from the Sydney event last night, it was enough to get the party started.

If you’ve not yet heard of Wu Tang Clan, well I wouldn’t really know where to start… so just go. do it. With some of the world’s most notorious emcee’s, and a big crowd of them at that (well not this time), there’s enough coming out of them to cover it all:

Wutang Clan – Triumph

Rumour has it that the crew was stripped back a little to RZA, GZA, Raekwon, and Inspectah Deck.

Personally – I don’t give a shit who turns up, it’s Wu man.

Mean

Melbourne tomorrow – Festival Hall – You can get your tickets ate Ticketmaster

…bs

Tags: gigs, hip hop, Old School

Low:Fi – NAS and Chali 2na head up hip hop feast!

Australian hip hop fans are blessed with the announcement of the massive ‘Low:Fi tour’ that will be traversing the country late October/early November this year. Featuring east coast hip hop heavyweight NAS, supported by the baritone himself Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, as well as turntable master Q-Bert and MC Supernatural, this is surely to be one of the biggest shows to hit our shores in 2009.

Long regarded as one of the best in hip hop, self proclaimed King of New York Nasty NAS heads back to Australia to headline his very own tour after supporting Kanye here late last year.  Since his 1994 debut album, ‘Illmatic’, regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time, NAS has remained at the forefront of the scene. Whether that be with his masterful flow and provocative rhymes, his well publicised ‘beef’ with Jay-Z (and subsequent reunion…) or the attention garnered by the controversial naming of his most recent album, there has been no escaping NAS’ impact on the shape of hip hop.

Coming through with strong support is the irrepressible Chali 2na of the now defunct Jurassic 5. Having just released his debut solo album, Fish Outta Water, the ‘verbal Herman Munster’ will be performing with a live band and is sure to entertain. Hip hop these days lacks such down-to-earth and laidback artists; having met 2na in Wellington back in 2004, I can honestly say he is everything that is right with the industry and is one of the nicest guys out, not to mention a solid performer on the mic and sure fire crowd-pleaser. No doubt he will be keen to impress fans with a combination of classic J5 bangers as well as decent collection of his new material.

Nas – I can

But it doesn’t finish there, the Low:Fi tour also features the MC/DJ combination of Q-Bert and Supernatural in a freestyle battle the likes of which you’ve never seen; a powerhouse pairing of arguably the most technically sound DJ in hip hop, and strongest freestyle MC in the scene. Qbert‘s involvement in the DMC team The Invisble Sqratch Piklz in the mid 90’s (along with Mix Master Mike) positioned him as the world’s most respected hip hop DJ, and was subsequently banned from competing after wining 3 consecutive titles! He and two time U.S. freestyle battle champion MC Supernatural will amaze with their man versus machine, head to head, battle to the death that is rarely seen outside of the U.S.

Now, some lucky punters across the country are going to be fortunate enough to see all of these artists in one show, others, however, will have to attend separate gigs; let me spell this out to avoid confusion:
Sat 24th October, Adelaide – Summer Break, Rymill Park
(CHALI 2NA, QBERT & MC SUPERNATURAL ONLY)
On Sale Date: Thursday 20th August
Sun 25th October, Perth – The Aberdeen Hotel, Aberdeen Street & The Shed
On Sale Date: Thursday 6th August
Wed 28th October, Melbourne – The Palace Metro Theatre
(NAS ONLY)
On Sale Date: Thursday 20th August
Thurs 29th October, Adelaide – The Barton Theatre
(NAS ONLY)
On Sale Date: Thursday 20th August
Friday 30th October, Melbourne – The Esplanade Hotel
(CHALI 2NA, QBERT & MC SUPERNATURAL ONLY)
On Sale Date: TBC
Sat 31st October, Sydney – The Enmore Theatre
On Sale Date: Thursday 20th August
Sun 1st November, Stradbroke Island – Island Vibe Festival
(CHALI 2NA ONLY)
On Sale Date: TBC

And if you’re a Sydney dwelling hip hop and drum and bass fan, check out the link below, the above artists combined with some of the world’s best drum and bass DJ’s will surely make for one of the events of the year!
www.lowfi.com.au
Get your tickets soon as this will be one show you will not want to miss!

…Crack

Tags: gigs, hip hop, Old School

Rock The Bells

If you think back to the last time the infamous “Rock The Bells” festival released their line-up in America, you might remember my little day-dream about bringing the most prolific hip hop gathering to Australia?  or maybe not in which case you can see it here. Well a few tours, headaches, and victories later for The Very Good Agency this still remains on the to do list… so imagine my surprise when I came across some cool cats in Sydney, who seem to have made a few more decent steps towards getting a case together for exactly that. You can check out the facebook group that they have created here and join if your into it.

The 2009 Press conference was held last month releasing yet again another awesome group of artists. Check it out.

2009 Rock The Bells press conference

So let me break that line-up down for you again if I may

and add the one’s not mentioned who are on:

Tags: gigs, hip hop, Old School

Che Fu receives Queens Birthday Honour

Congratulations goes out to Che Fu, or as he goes by his real name from time to time, Che Ness, who has had a laugh receiving a queens birthday honour addressed to Mr Fu. After replying with a simple request to please make it out to his real name, Che Kuo Eruera Ness, he now receives the prestigious award in honour of his services to music in New Zealand. So Che is able to add yet another accolade to  the pile following his APRA silver scroll for songwriting, and his multiple New Zealand music awards for his solo work in which he is often backed by his wicked live band The Krates.

Dam Native feat. Che Fu – The Son

Throughout his amazing career he has been given some incredible praise from some of the industries finest talents including (among many others) Crowded House, and Chali 2na who praised him for having the natural progression of hip hop right, being as a master of his home territory first. I’m not sure how many hip hop stars around the commonwealth have been shouted out to by the queen though, so good on you Mr Fu, I mean Mr Ness, or is it Mr Groove?

Whatever it is…

shot bo

More Che Fu is at:

www.verygood.com.au/artists/che-fu

www.myspace.com/chefunz

…bs

Tags: hip hop, New Zealand Artists, Old School, Soul

Enter the Wu: Ghostface Killah hits Australia!!

“The law: in order to enter the Wu-Tang,
You must bring the Ol’ Dirty Bastard-type slang,
Represent the GZA, Abbott, RZA, Shaquan, Inspectah Deck,
Dirty Hoe getting low with his flow
Introducing, the Ghost…Face.. Killaaaaaaaahhh!!
No one could get iller!!”
(Ol’ Dirty Bastard, taken from ‘Da Mystery of Chessboxing’)

I spent about ten minutes trying to write an intro for this piece, when it struck me that Ol’ Dirty Bastard will forever have a better way with words than I will. Enough banter, Ghostface is coming to Australia! Original member of the legendary Wu Tang Clan, Ghostface (aka Ironman aka Tony Starks) will make his first ever trek out to this plentiful land to rock 5 shows across the country in June.

Ghostface first made his mark on the Wu Tang’s hip hop classic, “Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)”, spitting venomous rhymes with smooth flows over The RZA’s gritty Shaolin inspired soundtrack. Groundbreaking it was, the hip hop world didn’t know what had hit it, and RZA’s Don-like management of the crew saw them go from little known to world dominators in no time; remember the Wu Tang clothing craze in the late 90’s, or Wu Financial on Dave Chappelle, ha!! Like most of the Wu family, Ghost has gone on to release numerous solo projects, the difference being his have probably been the most successful. He debuted with “Ironman” way back in 1996, having appeared on nearly every track of the acclaimed Raekwon release, “Only Built for Cuban Linx”, the year before. More recently he has signed with Def Jam and 2006’s “Fishscale” was well received and commonly noted as one of the best albums of the year.

A colourful character indeed, Ghostface regularly performed in a ski mask in the early days, this rumoured to be because he was wanted by police and didn’t want to reveal himself in public until he was cleared. Rumours also followed him in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, with speculation that he and 50 Cent had beef. Though rumours they have stayed, one such tale describes ‘Fitty’ getting thrown down a set of stairs by Ghost! Big tick in my books there, regardless of its accuracy.
Australian fans now get their chance to witness this powerhouse of modern day hip-hop live across the country backed up onstage by his fellow Theodore Unit artists Wigs, Trife, Du Lilz and DJ J-Love. Sure to be one of the gigs of the year, get in now and pick up a ticket before it sells out – fingers crossed that he brings some of the rest of the Wu Tang with him!

Ghostface Killah dates across Australia:
Adelaide, Tuesday June 23rd – HQ
Sydney, Wednesday June 24th – The Forum
Melbourne, Thursday June 25th – The Espy
Perth, Friday June 26th – Metro City
Brisbane, Sunday June 28th – Step Inn
Byron Bay, Wednesday July 1st – Beach Hotel

Check out Ghostface at:
www.myspace.com/ghostface

…Crack

Tags: gigs, hip hop, Old School