- Hyjak & Torcha - a duo of Sydney hip hop stalwarts whose combined monikers sound more like a terrorist plot than a hip hop crew - join forces with DJ Bones to execute some drastic measures. Well actually it's Drastik Measures, that being the name of their latest album and they stay true to the hip hop game taking it back to the days when the DJ was just as important as the MC's telling the story. Hyjak's been in the game since he was 15 years old, sneaking into a Bondi pub to enter his first MC battle. 6 years on from that fateful day and Hyjak's won MC competitions and been a crucial member to Sydney's Dominion crew. An ex-member of famed hip hop group Et-Nik Tribe, Torcha is well known for his hip hop antics, with the Tribe releasing the politically charged Romancing The Racist with the diss track Settle The Score - hey I laughed when they mentioned "Jack from Home & Away getting paid to make crap". Finally taking care of the beats (on most tracks anyway) is DJ Bones, a fella who's pulled off a couple of acclaimed battle breaks LP (namely Bonesbreaks 1 & 2) and produced beats and scratches for the likes of Bretheren and various MC's on the Mother Tongues LP.
Ex-Wicked Beat Sound System MC Kye lends his vocals to Corrected giving it a smooth reggae flavour. Corrected is Hyjak & Torcha's "current state of hip hop affairs" track as they tell stories about the everyday struggle they go through being a hip hop artist. Kye returns later to guest MC and sing on Fast Pace which features a tribal beatbox routine in the background. BowtotheWizow gives the track a dark menacing flavour with deep bass and tough beats. Hyjak & Torcha go back and forth on the mic talking about keeping positive in a fast paced society.
The recently reformed Dominion crew is celebrated on Reformed with Mass MC where the three MC's cover the issue about the crew disbanding then reforming to deliver true skool hip hop on a commercial scene. Whether it's "more perverse than Mimi Macpherson" I can't say but one thing's for sure, Bones has been listening to a lot of Dr Dre and King Tech from the sound of his beats - tough headnodding beats with good use of the synth riffs. Definitely ain't gonna "hear weak beats no more" if they keep putting stuff like this out.
Civilized World sees Hyjak & Torcha cover the topic about money, greed and violence in a civilized world, which to them is basically a hypocrisy - why would people kill one another for money in a world that is classified as civilized. It's good to see them tackle conscious issues as much as they do the battle and diss raps. Lill Harris covers the r&b style vocals during the chorus complimenting the two MC's with her lush tones. Apparently it's an old tune from 93 that never saw the light of day until now.
Adelaide's Hilltop Hoods guest on Heard Of Us... like what? If anyone's been listening to Nova FM (in which Hyjak ironically states that he's ruined the chance of ever being put on their playlist) would have heard of the Hilltop Hoods as their "Nosebleed Section" has been put on their playlist. Produced by Suffa of the Hoods, he gives the track a nice funky edge with a phat jazzy piano loop that sounds "like a maddog eating hash cookies - the shit is dope!"
Hyjak, Torcha & Bones are definitely talented as a group on their own as shown on joints like Joyride which is one tune I'm really digging on this album right now. Hyjak & Torcha tell the story of weed and beer induced joyride around town as they dodge the police and end up running out of petrol and calling someone's mum to pick them up. Beatswise it's a trip back to the styles of '93 when deep beats and strings were the fad. Bones lays down more heavy orchestral beats for Move In Silence - Hyjak (chill! that's his name) & Torcha's battle style rhyme track. There's a distinct DJ Cam and Vadim influence on DJ Bones as their abstract hip hop styles can be heard on See Me with it's laidback beats and moody samples.
Hyjak & Torcha tell a story of sneaking into a club on Sneak as can be heard in the audio snippet at the beginning of the track. It's the album's club joint as the MC command you to nod your head and break your neck. There's a definite Timbaland and Neptunes influences on the production as do other tracks like Stay Running.
The years of experience in MC battles is clearly heard on Drastik Measures - they're not a crew of angry hip hoppers feeling sour about not getting major label record deals, in fact it's quite the opposite - the lyrics and messages they express show their love for the scene and how true the stay to the game. I also think that a lot of independent artists would prefer to steer clear of major label control and release on smaller indie labels as they usually allow for more creative control over their music. Usually people execute Drastik Measures when they're running out of ideas. In Hyjak, Torcha & Bones' case Drastik Measures has resulted in one awesome hip hop album.