DJPeril

After a lengthy 23 years in the Aussie rap game, spanning every element of the culture from b-boy and graf-writer to MC and DJ, and finishing up with 1200 Techniques, easily one of the biggest Aussie hip-hop groups ever, Peril felt that the time was finally ripe to unleash his debut solo album on the public. Featuring less full-on hip-hop than may have been expected, 'King Of The Beats' is an urban music monster, spanning r'n'b, neo-soul, hip-hop and everything in between.

"I've been doing hip-hop for over 20 years and when '1200 finished I was still used to making music. I was working for almost two years on the album and it just started because I was still working after 1200 Techniques took a break and realised that I had four or five completed songs," Peril explains.

Heavy on compilations, the featured artists on 'King Of The Beats' range from obscure neo-soul singer Rahsaan Patterson to ex-1200 Techniques bandmate N'fa. Peril really wanted to explore urban genres away from hip-hop, as he believes that Australia is lacking a very strong urban scene, especially when compared to the popularity of genres such as house and hip-hop.

"I could have gone overseas to look for collaborations and just picked from a list, but in Australia there was a much more limited selection." Despite much of the music being of genres not typically associated with Australia, 'King Of The Beats' features vastly more Australian than overseas performers.

"I think that people associate the Australian urban scene with those cheesy pop-idol type of singers. I wanted to show that there are actually some quality urban singers around in Australia and that it is a scene we should build."

A kind of joint project to promote both DJ Peril's release and ex-1200 Techniques frontman N'fa's debut album, 'Cause An Effect', the Block Party tour features both musicians billed on the lineup. Despite the two playing the same gig, Peril is quick to assure that this is in no way any kind of revival.

"No way. The performances will be two separate acts; we don't want anybody thinking that 1200 Techniques are involved with this at all. I just thought, 'hey, we both just released our debuts, we might as well tour together'. We ended up trying to make it like a big party. That's where we got the Block Party idea from.

"I also think a lot of Australian hip-hop musicians aren't proud of displaying that they're rappers," Peril states, talking about the way Australian hip-hop culture has changed over the decades. "It's become more known and people are afraid to dress like rappers because they're scared of being called American or something." There is a misconception within a lot of the public at large that all hip-hop is about gangsters, that the genre is about some kind of inner-city ghetto fantasy. "People could get me wrong, wearing a bit of gold, but I come from the Run DMC era. I suppose I still carry that old-school mentality over to the cover. To me, it doesn't say 'gangsta'. That's a horrible word. It says 'b-boy'."

As a figurehead of the Australian hip-hop movement since its conception in the '80s, Peril has shown a versatility not typical of such long-lived hip-hop producers, getting involved in a related, but still different, scene and through attempting to make it big in Australia rather than simply focusing on hip-hop. His attempts to bring all forms of urban music respect in Australia are displayed on 'King Of The Beats' and hopefully Australians will be as receptive as American and British audiences.

"I've already shown it to a few friends and, while it's not necessarily their thing, they can still get into it and respect it. Hopefully this will be a stepping stone for Australian urban music."

Ben Ford-Smith

'King Of The Beats' is out now through Warners.