Spit Syndicate

Spit Syndicate (feat. Sarah Corry) – Pick It Up

Spit Syndicate (feat. Fame) – Fresh Breath Music

I’ve been meaning to write something about Spit Syndicate ever since their incredible performance at the recent Newtown Festival (a popular fete held yearly in one of Sydney’s most over-mythologised suburbs).

Were you there? If not, you missed out on the best Oz Hip-Hop show of the year. Midday on a Sunday, to a pretty diverse crowd sitting on the grass with no plans to stand or really engage, SS (featuring their vintage NBA jersey clothed musical backbone DJ Joyride on decks, keys and (way soulful) back-up vocals) emerged onto a pretty shitty stage and proceeded to rock the festival like they were headlining the Enmore. It was insane, people didn’t really know what to do – so they began dancing like it wasn’t 12:30 on a Sunday. When the set was pulled early (due to scheduling mishaps or something) the now-animated crowd booed, chanted for “One more!”, and got moderately unruly. I just kept saying “Holy shit!” to my companions, and gushed about how endearing MC Nick Lupi’s perpetual grin is.

That night, I re-listened to their 2008 debut, ‘Towards the Light’. After witnessing their natural charisma and unquestionable stage-presence, I was finally able to believe the bravado of the record, and began getting into the above two cuts in a big way. And sure, the rest of the record is still a bit uneven, often tripping up on its own over-earnestness (surely the new crutch of Australian rappers?) – but honestly, how many dudes (that you know) can rock a show like them? Not many (if any).