My first experience with The Rosemount Hotel was in June 2007, when I attended a show headlined by my favourite rapper at that time, Brother Ali. The venue was impressive, the sound was crystal clear, and the couple hundred attendees scattered throughout the spacious interior so we weren’t all jammed in like sardines. Brother Ali dominated the stage and I remember thinking, one day I want to be on that stage opening a show like this, playing to a packed room of real heads who felt the love just like I did. I treasured the experience and thought that night would forever be the best show I would ever attend.
Three years later I found myself having the great fortune of being married to a rather dope rapper, Thorts, and being able to join him on stage opening for what I am certain is the best show I have ever attended or been apart of. Optamus, a three-piece collective fronted by the man of the same name, aka Bomb Scott, launched the hell out of their new album Forever and a Day to a sold-out venue, jam-packed with hip hop heads soaking up the poignant prose, banging beats and electric atmosphere.
Straight up after our set were FreekStyles. In case you haven’t heard, Mx Axis, Chekid and Vengeance are three Perth locals who have been making themselves well known around the usual traps and are also joining Optamus on stage at the Bunbury, Busselton and Albany shows later in the month. They kicked off their set with their track “Hip Hop Heads”, followed by an appearance from guest vocalist Porsah Laine, who added a touch of femininity to the stage and displayed her natural ability on the mic with her haunting vocals. These guys are renowned for their energy on stage and hyped the crowd up to a banging finish with their track, “Rebuild”.
Speaking of energy, if you managed to miss the lads from Denmark (The West Australian town, not the country) known as Delta Forse, then you definitely missed out. These guys didn’t just make their mark on the stage, they slaughtered it entirely. Known singly as Yaegar, Paulie P, Jeremy and DJ Jamu, they come together to make Delta Forse and will be following Optamus down to Albany’s White Star Hotel to continue the launch of their album Greatest Hits on June 26th. Their colourful set brought diversity to the stage with live instruments such as the harmonica and flute, beatboxing, freestyles and improvisation. The highlight of the show came in the form of an improvised race between harmonica and Yaegar’s impressive beat box, culminating in a hectic fast-paced drum’n’bass style rhythm that brought the energy of the room to fever pitch. This mind-blowing live display of human instrument versus harmonica was one of the most talked about on-stage occurrences at the end of the evening. I also heard something about vagina headbutting. But that’s another story.
Featuring on stage for one night only was SBX stalwart, Hunter, who was joined onstage by Defyre. Hunter recently released his full length LP Monster House with DJ Vame and performed one track from the album, “Say a Prayer”. Hunter and Defyre opened the set with his classic track “Never Commit” and, as always, had the crowd in the palm of his hand as they echoed his sage advice: “Never commit the same crime twice, always be polite and nice…”, “Remember this, cunts, never commit more than one crime at once”. The third and last track for Hunts was “East Perth”, from the Hunter & Dazastah LP, Done DL. By this stage The Rosemount was packed in like sardines (what does that cliché really mean, anyway?), with large, sweaty, heaving bodies jumping all over the place and elbows all askew, raising their hands to give love to the SBX legend and all-round nice guy that consistently commands audiences with his sharp and witty tracks, which have earned him that legend status in his home state.
We’ve arrived at the precipice of this mountain, the main reason The Rosemount sold out and, in my opinion, a mind-blowing, words-can’t-describe, live set to leave the other so-called live-band ensemble headliners cowering behind their triangles and acoustic-do-dats. I will admit to being somewhat three-sheets-to-the-wind at this stage of the night, but that only enhanced the atmosphere in my opinion. I remember standing up the back near the cigarette machine, squashed in between Thorts, my best mate and many hundreds of other eager listeners, when Optamus bashed out their first track from their new, and destined to impress, LP entitled Forever and a Day. As soon as the back-up vocals of Moondog kicked in, I looked at Thorts, we raised our eyebrows and unanimously mouthed to each other, “Woah!”. I don’t think we underestimated the skill of front man Optamus, aka Bomb Scott, but we definitely were not expecting the beautifully symbiotic relationship between MC, back-up vocalist slash harmonica and bass player, and keyboard player to connect so soulfully to the barely-able-to-see section of the Rosemount, adjacent to the toilets, being trampled by drunken heads and drowned out by shouts of “fuck yeah!” and whatnot. Honestly. The depth, shading and soul of every word and key and rhyming couplet permeated the noisy, heaving crowd all the way to the back wall where we stood, and probably even further still. The set was foot-achingly long which I couldn’t help but be impressed by. For over an hour the trio busted out earthy and almost tactile tunes, including one memorable track featuring his SBX brethren that broke necks in the front row.
The night exploded to a finish and standing outside near the entrance, we watched the mass exodus of rowdy heads spew out onto the street and I couldn’t help but be impressed at how long they had all stayed the course. Often crowds expand and expire just as quickly, but this was such solid support from the local hip hop lovers and the rap-curious, that I’m quite certain no other show this year will top it. If I had a dollar, I’d bet on it.
- Kadyelle.
I was wrong.
Three years later I found myself having the great fortune of being married to a rather dope rapper, Thorts, and being able to join him on stage opening for what I am certain is the best show I have ever attended or been apart of. Optamus, a three-piece collective fronted by the man of the same name, aka Bomb Scott, launched the hell out of their new album Forever and a Day to a sold-out venue, jam-packed with hip hop heads soaking up the poignant prose, banging beats and electric atmosphere.
Arriving at the door at 9pm, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but to hear the dull roar of hundreds of people already inside definitely got the adrenalin pumping, hands shaking, knees knocking and various other body parts doing their thing also. Thorts and I opened the night with a 20 minute set along with DJ Silence, featuring four tracks from my brand new LP Earthworthy, and one track from Thorts’ 2009 release Bleeding Heart Muzik .It was by far the best crowd either of us have ever played to, which is testament to the massive following Optamus and his SBX fam have received over the many years their works have resonated in the ears and hearts of hip hop followers nation-wide. And once again the quality of the sound at the Rosemount was unsurpassed. This was a blessing for me, as I had once again been infected with tonsillitis, the same crappy affliction that cursed me when we opened for Muph & Plutonic. My mum says it’s psychological. I’m not so sure you can think pus into existence. Assuming the crowd could excuse my occasional squeakiness, the set went well and the response was, to quote myself, “fucking amazing”.
Straight up after our set were FreekStyles. In case you haven’t heard, Mx Axis, Chekid and Vengeance are three Perth locals who have been making themselves well known around the usual traps and are also joining Optamus on stage at the Bunbury, Busselton and Albany shows later in the month. They kicked off their set with their track “Hip Hop Heads”, followed by an appearance from guest vocalist Porsah Laine, who added a touch of femininity to the stage and displayed her natural ability on the mic with her haunting vocals. These guys are renowned for their energy on stage and hyped the crowd up to a banging finish with their track, “Rebuild”.
Speaking of energy, if you managed to miss the lads from Denmark (The West Australian town, not the country) known as Delta Forse, then you definitely missed out. These guys didn’t just make their mark on the stage, they slaughtered it entirely. Known singly as Yaegar, Paulie P, Jeremy and DJ Jamu, they come together to make Delta Forse and will be following Optamus down to Albany’s White Star Hotel to continue the launch of their album Greatest Hits on June 26th. Their colourful set brought diversity to the stage with live instruments such as the harmonica and flute, beatboxing, freestyles and improvisation. The highlight of the show came in the form of an improvised race between harmonica and Yaegar’s impressive beat box, culminating in a hectic fast-paced drum’n’bass style rhythm that brought the energy of the room to fever pitch. This mind-blowing live display of human instrument versus harmonica was one of the most talked about on-stage occurrences at the end of the evening. I also heard something about vagina headbutting. But that’s another story.
Following Delta Forse on stage was young Smiley and joining him on the mic was The Apprentice, with tricky turntablist DJ Jamu on the decks. This spriteful young fella has just released his debut solo full length LP entitled The Suspended Sentence through Firestarter Distribution, so you can grab yourself a copy from the usual places in Perth or anywhere that has a decent local hip hop section. This LP comes hot on the heels of his 2009 mixtape Junkyard Dog, which impressed many of the local heads and scored himself a tidy following indeed. If there’s something all of these lovely young men share, it’s a flair for smashing heads with tightly woven flows and sending the knees of ladies everywhere a-quivering. The confidence and self-awareness of each artist bursts out from behind the mics and I must admit I have learned a lot from all of them. Smiley is definitely among those begifted with an extraordinary stage presence. I first met Smiley back in mid-2009-ish when we both supported Ivens at The Velvet Lounge in Mount Lawley. Smiley ripped open the evening with his explosive on-stage hype, and I couldn’t help but think, shiiiit, we have to follow that! Though in person, Smiley seems somewhat subdued compared to his on-stage persona. Perhaps it is simply a Zen-like state that he falls in to… or maybe it’s just adrenalin. Either way, he puts a lid on that shit until he is ready to unleash it upon unsuspecting front-row faces. Umm, I didn’t mean that how it sounds. Smiley is lucky enough to be joining Optamus on his entire WA tour, with shows still to come in Bunbury, Busselton, Albany, Gerladton and Fremantle over June, July and August. Smiley and his off-sider, The Apprentice, kick started their set with a mash-up of tracks including a remix of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. The lads also busted out a still-warm classic “Junkyard Dog”, as Smiley describes, “for nostalgic purposes”. Do I really need to describe the crowd for you? If you weren’t there, you’ll never know. Smiley finished his set with one of his new and heavier tracks, “Repeat Offender”. Keep an eye out on this young man, as anyone that was in attendance that night will tell you he absolutely slaughtered the set, and his new LP will be a must-have for all staunch Australian hip hop followers.
Featuring on stage for one night only was SBX stalwart, Hunter, who was joined onstage by Defyre. Hunter recently released his full length LP Monster House with DJ Vame and performed one track from the album, “Say a Prayer”. Hunter and Defyre opened the set with his classic track “Never Commit” and, as always, had the crowd in the palm of his hand as they echoed his sage advice: “Never commit the same crime twice, always be polite and nice…”, “Remember this, cunts, never commit more than one crime at once”. The third and last track for Hunts was “East Perth”, from the Hunter & Dazastah LP, Done DL. By this stage The Rosemount was packed in like sardines (what does that cliché really mean, anyway?), with large, sweaty, heaving bodies jumping all over the place and elbows all askew, raising their hands to give love to the SBX legend and all-round nice guy that consistently commands audiences with his sharp and witty tracks, which have earned him that legend status in his home state.
We’ve arrived at the precipice of this mountain, the main reason The Rosemount sold out and, in my opinion, a mind-blowing, words-can’t-describe, live set to leave the other so-called live-band ensemble headliners cowering behind their triangles and acoustic-do-dats. I will admit to being somewhat three-sheets-to-the-wind at this stage of the night, but that only enhanced the atmosphere in my opinion. I remember standing up the back near the cigarette machine, squashed in between Thorts, my best mate and many hundreds of other eager listeners, when Optamus bashed out their first track from their new, and destined to impress, LP entitled Forever and a Day. As soon as the back-up vocals of Moondog kicked in, I looked at Thorts, we raised our eyebrows and unanimously mouthed to each other, “Woah!”. I don’t think we underestimated the skill of front man Optamus, aka Bomb Scott, but we definitely were not expecting the beautifully symbiotic relationship between MC, back-up vocalist slash harmonica and bass player, and keyboard player to connect so soulfully to the barely-able-to-see section of the Rosemount, adjacent to the toilets, being trampled by drunken heads and drowned out by shouts of “fuck yeah!” and whatnot. Honestly. The depth, shading and soul of every word and key and rhyming couplet permeated the noisy, heaving crowd all the way to the back wall where we stood, and probably even further still. The set was foot-achingly long which I couldn’t help but be impressed by. For over an hour the trio busted out earthy and almost tactile tunes, including one memorable track featuring his SBX brethren that broke necks in the front row.
The night exploded to a finish and standing outside near the entrance, we watched the mass exodus of rowdy heads spew out onto the street and I couldn’t help but be impressed at how long they had all stayed the course. Often crowds expand and expire just as quickly, but this was such solid support from the local hip hop lovers and the rap-curious, that I’m quite certain no other show this year will top it. If I had a dollar, I’d bet on it.
- Kadyelle.
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