Eric may be the Hip-Hop expert at the blog, and never misses an opportunity to “diss” my “wack chops” in the category (whatever that means), but I still think I‘ll take a shot at this because these guys are fantastic.
Hilltop Hoods is a three piece straight out of Australia. The group consists of MCs Suffa (Matt Lambert), MC Pressure (Daniel Smith) and DJ Debris (Barry Francis.) Suffa and Pressure cover lyrics while Debris does scratches. The three also take up production duties. They have a pretty good fan following down under, but they aren’t extremely well known here in the states. I think that’s kind of a crime because these guys have what you need to stand out in the business.
The two things that help me, a casual hip-hop patron, distinguish your group from others is a great hook and real hip-hop lyrical delivery. The hook stems mostly from the music, I look for something new. For instance we have the great flute and violin centered beat as well as sampling "People in the Front Row" by Melanie Safka. It grabs you right away and keeps you moving through the whole track.
The second distinguishing piece is the lyrical delivery. It’s not very hard to sing, and with the modern mixing equipment it’s not very hard to make any sing well also. These guys are able to weave the lyrics into the beat of the song, changing tempo, pitch, and style in the way someone going crazy in a guitar solo might. At the end of the day you got someone who tuned their voice into an instrument, an instrument they absolutely shred with.
Give these guys a listen, and spread them around. Maybe someday the Hilltop Hoods will be touring the states so we can all jump around whether you’re in the front row of the nosebleed section.
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