1300
Explosive Eora / Sydney-based, Korean-Australian rap crew 1300 (pron. "one-three-hundred") today share their latest single, 'Smashmouth'.
LISTEN HERE.
Comprised of rappers rako, goyo, DALI HART, producer-singer Nerdie, and producer pokari.sweat, the multi-limbed group’s prodigious chemistry is on full, towering display once again throughout 'Smashmouth'. A genre-bending, language-melding hip hop melange, the three rappers and Nerdie trading back-to-back verses punctuated by razor-sharp flows, bilingual lyrics weaving in and out of Korean and English, grounding the frantically shape-shifting production through the concentration of their combined and individual personalities.
Speaking to the release and music video, 1300 share "With Smashmouth, we try to maximise our expression in 3 minutes. The song is structured in a way where the instrumental supports the vocalist's individual energy and personality, so it naturally shifts and moves with the artists. There are 4 of us on vocal duty, and 2 on production. When we perform this song live, the audience feels like they're coming up on an mdma peak (especially at 1:55 where all the synths come in for the last verse). They eat it up, it's a real moment and we live for it. We really, really, really don't want you to get bored listening to this song, so we made sure that could never happen."
Subsuming the raw volatility of Soundcloud rap, the physical potency of sweat-doused, subterrestrial electronic music, and the high-budget sheen of K-hip hop, the sound of 1300 cannot be understood or defined in pure stylistic terms. Built from everything goes studio sessions, their music is instead caught in a state of endless dynamism that never ceases to electrify or surprise, bottling the potential of a group animated by their boundless creativity, the individual members coming together like particles in the Large Hadron Collider that is 1300. What ties it all together is the group’s uncompromising pursuit of raucous energy, a constant momentum, and intensity born in-studio sessions that is then given shape and sound through their music.
'Smashmouth' follows the incendiary trail blazed by their breakthrough March single, 'No Caller iD', which amassed both local and international praise from the likes of Acclaim Mag, Filter Zine, and Sound Doctrine, while also receiving rotation adds across triple j, Unearthed and FBi Radio. Transposing the energy of their records to an exhilarating, boisterous live show, the group’s ability to transcend genre and audience has already seen them notch a slew of notable support slots, appearing alongside Genesis Owusu, PNAU, Shady Nasty, Jono Ma, Taka Perry, 3K, Kota Banks and more.
PRAISE FOR 1300
"I've had so many of my friends hit me up and ask me whether I'm across "1300"
- now I know why"
Ebony Boadu (triple j)
"Founded in a garage in Sydney's West,
1300 subverts expectations of what a Korean rap group should be"
Acclaim
"Putting a uniquely homegrown twist on the sounds of Seoul"
Life Without Andy
"Mate. You don't need to speak the tongue to know this is a banger"
Hau Latukefu (triple j)
