With a name as kickass as Ivan Ooze (yes, as in the Power Rangers villain), you’ve got to expect some seriously good shit from the Melbourne MC. Thankfully we have an exclusive premiere of his brand new mixtape The Social Alien – and thankfully, yeah, it rules.
Ivan Ooze is one of the most refreshing and exciting up and comers in Aussie hip-hop, and he proves why with his tightly produced mixtape The Social Alien.
District 9 invites us into the spectacularly weird world of Ivan Ooze with the (un)familiar sounds of somebody punching a billy, pausing, and promptly coughing up a lung. From here on, it’s pure gold. There is a plethora of magic within the mixtape, and all of it is incredibly refreshing. Australian hip-hop has been slowly decaying in a stalemate between mediocre and lifeless artists who refuse to push the genre into new territories. But as of late there have been some seriously young artists who have been taking the genre to some pretty awesome places. MCs like Baro and WZRDKID have been making massive waves in Aussie hip-hop and we are lapping it all up cos’ damn, are we thirsty.
Ivan Ooze, aka Ben Townsend, had a ripper 2014. Even before his first EP had dropped he was bathing in attention from hordes of fans that had been following a string of viral promo videos of him freestyling on YouTube. His debut, the Ringwood Rich EP, blew minds with the same super-fast flow that had gone viral just a few weeks before. He was immediately booked on tours with Cyprus Hill (who you’ll find traces of laced throughout Ivan Ooze’s work) and Ice Cube, plus he scored slots at the Beyond The Valley and Raggamuffun (NZ) festivals over the New Year. All of this happened in six months.
Thankfully this success has only milked Townsend’s creative juices more. So far, 2015 has delivered singles like Trippin’ and Jimi Hendrix that have further cemented Ivan Oozes place in the vanguard of trailblazing artists in Aussie hip-hop. Both tracks feature on The Social Alien mixtape alongside 11 others. There are collaborations with WZRDKID and Sable, plus a killer R.L Grime remix and fan selected-instrumentals. The Social Alien is 13 tracks of super-tight production, razor sharp lyrics about depression, social anxiety, and self-belief, delivered with absolute assurance and blinding speed.
Not one to pump the brakes, Ivan Ooze will be taking his tracks on the road, touring in major cities all around Australia. He has also just been announced on Come Together, alongside fellow hip-hop heroes Horrorshow, Seth Sentry, Remi, Thundamentals and Coinbanks.
Check out all the details here:
WED APR 29 – Sosueme, Beach Road Hotel, Bondi
THU APR 30 – Lambda, Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
SAT MAY 02 – Ed Castle, Adelaide
FRI MAY 08 – Hussle Hussle @ Mojos, Fremantle
FRI MAY 15 – Can’t Say, Melbourne
SAT JUNE 06 – Come Together Festival Luna Park, Sydney
And for now some final words from Ivan Ooze:
“The Social Alien mixtape is a reflection of the good, the bad and the ugly from my life on this planet so far and how I feel about it all. Some will love it, others won’t, but fuck it, we’re all human…or so we think.”
This dude is good.
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