L-FRESH The LION encapsulates what Australian hip-hop represents for me.
Here is an artist that sings about his passion, his culture and his beliefs all from the heart. All music should capture these elements, but for me, hip-hop is the genre that really stands shoulders above the pack and, as it has done for decades, provides a platform for artists and fans alike to connect on common ground..
Become is the second album from L-FRESH The LION and the first on the premier indie label, Elefant Traks. He is a perfect fit for the label in as far as he is not only very talented, but fits into the ethos of their brand; basically, just be a good person.
This album comes two years after his debut, One, and acts as a prequel to that album. What is a prequel to an album you ask? Well, this album goes back to L-FRESH’s roots and lays out stories of his Sikh ancestry (in Panjab, An Introduction), his own past in the powerfully confronting Be Cool and then makes us dance whilst recognising his strength of character in the out and out banger, 1 in 100,000.
L-FRESH has made a point, however, that his story is an Australian one and he impresses that this country’s story is very much about “politics, power and race”. This is an important point. Some might see his music as being political, but I believe that every Australian’s story is entrenched in a political quagmire that constantly threatens to define us as a nation. We are more than our politicians and more than this social shaping that the media tries to force upon us.
An album that will stand up in the musical landscape as being honest, pure and powerful and capable of representing the minorities that need the stories behind it the most.
Out today (13 May 2016) on Elefant Traks. Buy now.
( by Cole Bennetts. Design by Dale Harrison.)
