Paul Reid, formerly Paul Gary James Ridge,, better known by the stage name Drapht, is an Australian hip hop artist from Perth. Drapht is a member of the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, a collective that includes fellow Perth-based hip hop artists such as Downsyde.
Drapht at Metro City Concert Club, Perth, May 2011
Australian Hip-Hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by Hip-Hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as The Kid Laroi, Manu Crooks, Onefour, Iggy Azalea, Hilltop Hoods, Bliss n Eso and Youngn Lipz, having achieved notable fame. Australian Hip-Hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style.
Hilltop Hoods, an Australian hip hop group, has been awarded several ARIA Music Awards.
Bliss n Eso consists of an American and two Australians. According to Bliss, "When I [moved] to Australia [in 1992], I met Eso and he was the only guy at my school into hip-hop. It was so scarce you'd be lucky to find a hip-hop record in a store let alone a whole section." Eso is seen here performing in 2011.
Briggs has the name of his Indigenous tribe, the Yorta Yorta people, tattooed on his forearms "so every time I rock the mic people know I’m representing".
Rob Farley on 3RRR's "Wheels of Steel"