Edited by The Fashion Web
The 1990s were the golden age/ era of not only American hip hop, but Australian too…
I know, coz I was there!
In those days the fashion was all about: parachute sportswear jackets, shell-toes, air maxes, Air 180s, Nike structures, huraches, Lacoste, Jag, Country Road bags and embroidered jumpers, Sportscraft, Polo, Guess jeans, tailored shorts, tennis wears, Caribee backpacks, Jazz and New West aftershave, Kangols, Stussy, puffer jackets and vests, checkered/tartan button-ups, Timberland boots, Jordan and other fly shit too.
*These were the days before: the internet, graffiti t-shirts, graffiti spray paint brands, special paint caps, digital cameras, every man and his dog emceeing about beer and bitches…and the death of vinyl deejays.
These were the days of: swapping flix through snail mail, TDK tapes, walkmans, catching loops to thrash insides, 30 ml markers, raven oil, making mix-tapes, underage drinkin’ in the park, The Source, Rap Pages, Hip Hop Connection, Sprayed Conflict, Melbourne cops trashing pieces, Blitzkrieg, Recovery, IGT, Hype, Central Station, Zest, Vapours, Yo! MTV raps, going to good hip hop clubs to hear ragga, funk and hip hop,local releases only on tape and vinyl, Plasticotes, touch-ups, Krylons, Snapple, secondhand bargains, rolling cats in the city for their sneakers and racking everything in sight before the big stores got with the program.
Some of the key players in the Australian hip hop music scene were: MAMAS FUNK, AKA BROTHERS, PURE MINDED POETRY, ORGANIZED RHYME, PAC, INTENSE QUALITY, FINGER LICKIN’ GOOD, RED EYED PEEZ, HOMEBREWED, SOUND UNLIMITED POSSE, DEF WISH CAST, FONKE KNOMADS, GROOVE TERMINATOR, FRENZIE, CODE OF ETHICS, MC QUE, ACAPULLO GOLD, DELTA, RUEBEN, SUEZ, DECYPHER, TOWERING INFERNO, GEN ONE, HAMS, FELICITE, KATCH, NIGEL, A.S.K, FLAK, KRISY, TASH, DEDLEE, FX, DAMSEL,POSITIVE DIRECTION, ASWAN, RUFFNEXETT, SEANY B, RAISE, BLUNTED STYLUS, EXCEL, SOUP, THA FORMULATORS, IDEM, RFK, HILLTOP HOODS, TREY, MOSTYN, SIA yes the Sia who now is doin’ big tings in the UK and to the old heads, let me know the few I may have forgotten, but believe me, there won’t be many more coz we truly were an underground, small scene. Also send in your flix from the 90s!!
Dedication and passion. Searching. Fun. Street. The essence. Underground.
Here’s some flix I dug up from this era…I was living down south, in Adelaide and Melbourne at the time so it’s a lil’ bit biased. Also I was too young for the birth of hip hop music in Australia in the 80s so don’t hate- I’m just droppin’ some knowledge on the era I lived. Stay tuned for more! *Note-this post is just talkin bout the MUSIC scene at this time.
PART ONE- THE EARLY 90s
DELTA- after battling some b-boys in Adelaide '94
TASH and GEN ONE at The Core Magazine office 1993
Jimmy, RANSOM, PAC, MERMA-Melb. 1992
FLAK, QURO, MADCAP -Finger Lickin' Good. Adelaide 1993
Sound Unlimited Posse- Sydney 1990
Straitup Fam-MAMAS FUNK, PAC, RANSOM- Melb. circa 91
MC DAMSEL- Melbourne 1994
TASH and DAMSEL live on 3PBS radio. Melbourne 1994
DJ EXCEL- live on 3PBS radio. Melbourne 1993
GEN1, MERMA, BOOTS, PRIZM-Check 1,2 Radio show. ADEL. 94
KRISY and members of INTENSE QUALITY-Melbourne 1993
, KANO 1993?]
LAM, MIKE, MISHAPAM
HILLTOP HOODS-original line-up. ADEL 94
TREM and BRAD STRUT- Melbourne 94
Long hair was the haircut of choice on Melbourne writers back then!
PROWLA and MC QUE- Melbourne 1994
ORGANIZED RHYME PROD. Melbourne 94
, SUEZ Melb. 94?
LAM IQ-Adel. 94″ width=”503″ height=”339″ />
RED EYED PEEZ, MERMA- Adel 94

RAPHBLANK TM Melbourne 1994
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