Foreign Heights
Foreign Heights
Grindin/Central Station


If you look at the components of this group purely in terms of credentials, then it's hard to think that this could be anything but a great record, at least for Australian hip-hop. Composed of MCs Trey and Maya Jupiter (best known as the host of Triple J's hip-hop show), as well as DJ Nick Toth, each of the members have extensive experience within Aussie rap. It was with high expectations that I put this CD into my stereo and with a slight sigh of disappointment that I removed it 40 minutes later.

Thankfully there's no messing around with a long intro track, which shows admirable restraint on the part of Toth. Given the tendency for DJs to introduce an album with a barrage of scratched samples of MCs saying their own names, It Goes On is thankfully free of such showing off. The kick-heavy beat and chopped vocals are interesting although more could have been done to flesh out the sound of the track.

The majority of this album is unremarkable, which is disappointing because I really wanted to enjoy it. Given the excellence of Macromantic's debut, I thought maybe female Aussie hip-hop would boom. It still might, but probably not with this album. Perhaps it's just me, but Trey's and Jupiter's constant reaffirmations of themselves as hip-hop artists really detracts from the feel of this record.

Main Street is probably the most worthwhile track on the album, a slightly moodier, faster track with some rapid-fire rhyming from the MC pair. I think the reason Main Street seems so good on this album is because it's one of only a few tracks that sound a bit different. The record all sounds the same! This doesn't even make sense, since there's a huge variety of producers here. It's difficult to discern between the two rappers because their flow styles and voices are almost identical and, with the lyrical dexterity of some of today's top MCs, simple iambics and a-b-a-b rhymes don't cut it. I really found it hard to believe what these girls were saying or to be interested in it. You couldn't call it engaging.

Ben Ford Smith