VARIOUS ARTISTS – MAKING WAVES

“How can we relate if you can’t face my music?”, Wire MC and Sista Native sing; and in that line, you’ve got the whole philosophy of this compilation of Australian Indigenous hip-hop. The tracks here run the gamut from in-your-face anger (Street Warrior’s Look At Me), to upbeat social criticism (Impossible Odds’ Laugh It Off). There really are too many good tracks here, and I’m not going to be able to name-drop of all my favourites, although I’ll try. The anger, the sense of injustice on this album isn’t just political; it fuels the music, which is why it’s a little bit disappointing that the cuss language has been censored – but for artist exposure, and the quality of what remains, it’s a fine payoff. The production on this album spans from bedroom to sparse 90’s stuff to the Aussie beat-beat and raucous party tunes. Radical Son’s verse on Last Kinection’s I Can is killer, powerful and spacious, with the best kind of surreal flow (“Black queens, more power to your elbow / Old man, put your hands on my shoulder”). Wire MC, Mau Power and Brothablack also deserve mention. And while it’s rare that a compilation in any genre sustains quality while maintaining range, in the case of Making Waves and Indigenous hip-hop, maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised.

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