Korean/Australian rap group 1300 have unveiled their latest dynamic release, their mixtape George.
Reshaping the Australian cultural landscape since their emergence in 2021, the Eora/Sydney based rap crew come together with a shared passion for producing music against all odds. Steadily orbiting the insular Korean-Australian scene in their home city, rappers rako, goyo, rapper-singer-dancer DALI HART, producer-singer Nerdie and producer pokari.sweat have a track record for consistently thwarting expectation, blurring modes of craft from audio to visual with a versatility in rap and production with an electric stage presence that today pushes from underdog status to their interpretation of stardom.
The latest collaboration of 1300 is a bold convergence of K-pop, hip hop, gabber, trap, and industrial music. Where Foreign Language debuted the vernacular of their own making, George is the next chapter of their very existence, however fraught it may be. George, a forceful declaration, is an audacious musical venture entrenched in the intricate intersection of culture and wholly reflective of the supergroup’s life experiences in straddling their connection, or lack-there-of, in Australia and South Korea, amidst the backdrop of doom-scrolling, deep fakes and digital misinformation.
George is a stark exploration of the nexus event they pose in the local scene and broader industry – through a wild excavation and blend of rap and club. Taking inspiration from the once-innocent primate, Curious George, the mixtape paints a poignant narrative of 1300 grappling with the erosion of youth. George, akin to its namesake, sheds its innocence, symbolising a loss of curiosity. Where their breakout debut Foreign Language presented the group with a breadth of previously untapped opportunities, on George, 1300 are taking back the reins.
Reconciling with the purgatory state of their neither here, nor there existence to the hybrid soundscape they traverse, George weaves a tapestry of anxiety, disconnection, and cultural distortion, refracted through the distinct perspectives of each band member. Pulsating with acid synth-lines, visceral bass punches, and anthemic choruses of world cup stadium proportions, George draws from the expansive depth of their sonic jungle with the help of Korean rap luminaries including legendary OG EK (GANTZ), avant-garde rap experimentalist sokodomo (Ape Shit), and the dynamic duo odeen & Easymind (Wire). A testament to their global perspective, George stands as 1300’s unequivocal statement, blazing a trail for the disenchanted youth with aspirations that resonate from Seoul to Sydney, London to Busan.
Release: April 17th, 2024, Eastern Margins