(WHATSHISFACE)

There’s no reason to lie about it. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Australian rap that sounds like Australian rap. Most Aussie Hip Hop I’ve covered still has that preferred American style accent, which is what I prefer, and I’ve even had promising prospects back when I first started doing reviews almost ten years ago ask me to edit and delete the phrase that I don’t normally listen to Aussie rap, and I didn’t, and that prospect was deleted with it! 

But I reveal all of that above to say this. Although it may not be my cup of tea, this one is definitely different! So let’s talk about it!

This is the return of the MC Flu! The man who has been behind your favourite rappers’ favourite production for the past few years now! Until the release of this project, I didn’t even know he was a rapper before production! Nonetheless, this is his grand return to the mic! This time, the production is DELICASTEEZ, and together they dropped ten tracks with the likes of 

-Phil Gektor 

-Maundz 

-Raven

-Crave One

-Traz

-Mog.Y

-Lobe

Now, I’m not going to pretend I understand the real history of Aussie rap or what the ‘original’ sound of the area’s Hip Hop is meant to sound like, but in my experience with the very selective names I fucked with in my youth days, such as 

-DCORP

-Kerser

-360 (Some)

I’ve always felt a strong ‘West Coast G-Funk’ influence among these beats, and for the most part, this is how I feel on this one as well! I can hear those booming synth chords, those Lucius strings, and infectious drum patterns! Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as tracks like ‘SONNY’S RAGE’ and ‘TRAVIS’, which sound eerily similar to each other with those haunting strings and muddy atmosphere. 

But for the rest, you can hear those groovy instrumentation elements so frequent with the ‘West Side’, and I fuck with it heavy! I will say though that in every case, whether we are talking albums or cyphers from the past or this album right here, what Aussie producers tend to do is sprinkle in some necessary ‘grit’ and ‘grime’ to these otherwise polished and refined beats to give them that extra-needed edge!

Because although it may not be my favourite sound, I can’t deny that Aussie rap production (similarly to the OG version of UK Drill) always has a level of toughness, raw and rugged detail about it! It’s never a fully ‘clean’ so to speak instrumentals, but instead, the emphasis always remains on the ruthless and borderline aggressive nature of the sounds themselves, even if they do incorporate a commonly ‘dance and party’ atmosphere genre into their mixes.

 Now, on the main course himself. In Melbourne terms. If the rest of the competition is Dandenong McDonald’s, then Flu is fucking Schnitz! You can tell doing only production for so long has left a toll on his craving for the rapping because the sheer volume of puns, double entendres, phrases, one-liners, and just pure vocabulary overload is absolutely ridiculous on this record! He’s had these ideas and lyrics saved over years, and he’s unleashed every single word all over this album, and it’s truly a sight to see and hear!

As the man stated himself. This is the type of album you’d need more than a few listens to attempt to understand and gather everything he’s said and all the clever concepts and phrases he’s used. There’s just that much included!

Of course, he’s not alone on this record; with his group of boys, they charge in headfirst to create the perfect underground Aussie rap atmosphere that reminds me of the mid to late 2000s of Aussie rap or early 2010s! This is the shit that will stomp you out and leave you a bloody mess if you ain’t ready for it! This roster doesn’t fuck around, and under this hardcore production, they literally can’t do wrong!

For such an anticipated return to the MC role, Flu KILLED IT! This album was beyond worth the wait, and with his features and phenomenal production by DELICASTEEZ, this one is for the record books!

https://fludust.bandcamp.com/album/whatshisface