(Independent)

Malaysian-Australian MC lives in London and records in Seattle

NSW-born MC Omar Musa was runner-up in the 2008 Australian Poetry Slam, so you know right there he’s not your average beer rapper. Now he’s living in and rapping about the big city, all bright lights and neon. The city in question is London but the 3am blues he’s got in tracks like Hemingway are easy enough to empathise with no matter where you are. Its “All downhill since the death of Hemingway” hook seems like non sequitur, but sounds pretty anyway. Elsewhere there’s the sexy groove of Opal, combined squelches and Radiohead samples in What It Is and an intro track touching on his Queanbeyan upbringing. It’s all extremely fresh; Musa doesn’t sound quite like anybody else in hip hop at the moment. Reverentially sampling Radiohead is always worth bonus points, too. This EP may be only five tracks long but Omar, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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JODY MACGREGOR

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