1300 share eclectic new mixtape GEORGE out now and announce national tour this June supported by FRIDAY* and Dylan Atlantis
PRAISE FOR 1300
TRACKLIST
Yao Ming
Wire ft. Easymind, oddeen
GANTZ ft. EK
Follow Me
Lalaland
Superbad
Rock Lee
Ape Shit ft. sokodomo
Levitate
George mixtape by 1300 is out now via Eastern Margins, buy/stream it HERE.
Korean/Australian rap group 1300 today unveil their latest dynamic release, their mixtape George with the announcement of their national headline tour, presented by triple j. Tickets are available from 9 AM AEST on April 19. LISTEN HERE + BUY TICKETS HERE.
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.
Highlighted today is focus track ‘Levitate‘, with new music video and the latest in 1300’s fruitful partnership with director Raghav Rampal. Here the group channel the self-implosion of rock band’s self-destructing live performances pushed to its limits. Slow motion, sweat and strobe see the supergroup don a hardcore band set up delivering the performance of a lifetime to curious Omeagle chat observers.
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.
In celebration of their latest project, 1300, joined by FRIDAY* and Dylan Atlantis will deliver their electrifying live show across Meanjin/Brisbane, Naarm/Melbourne, Eora/Sydney and Boorloo/Perth across June. The tour comes a year after their sell-out debut headline shows in May 2023, quickly adding multiple extra shows to meet the high demand. Continuing to make their mark on both local and international stages, most recently across Korea and Japan to SXSW Austin this last month, 1300’s global appeal is at an all-time high.
Hailing from Sydney, the Korean-Australian rap crew transcends genre and illuminates the voice of Asian artists whilst reshaping the Aussie hip-hop landscape. Composed of rappers rako, goyo, rapper-singer-dancer DALI HART, producer-singer Nerdie and producer pokari.sweat, the group initially came together following a chance encounter at a house party, after years spent orbiting around one another in Sydney’s small Korean-Australian music scene. Together, they combine their versatility within rap and producing, resulting in an electric display of infectious energy and stage presence.
1300 closed their breakout year with a string of accolades across the release of their Foreign Language mixtape, including but not limited to their recent shortlist in the coveted Australian Music Prize, landing #23 in the NME Best Australian Albums of the Year list + a spot in the NME 100 for 2023, FBi Radio SMAC Award Nominations for Album of the Year and Best Video for ‘Oldboy’, that won the triple j and rage Australian Music Video of the Year J Award, while also awarded the Australia Council of the Arts’ ‘Arts Project’ and ‘Contemporary Touring’ grants.
Having marked their quickly sold-out headline debut at Sydney Opera House for VIVID, 1300 continue to illustrate how they have become one of the most exciting underground-turned-mainstream players in the live music circuit including support slots for Danny Brown, Theophilus London, Ateez, Stray Kids and Kid Milli through to Genesis Owusu, Confidence Man and more while their triple j Like A Version of Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ set the music festival circuit ablaze last summer across Golden Plains, Splendour In The Grass, Spilt Milk, Falls Festival, Lost Paradise and more.
Appearing at SummerStage’s Aussie BBQ in NYC in 2023; internationally selected as HiphopLE‘s Group of the Year and Hiphopplaya‘s Upcoming Artists for 2022; a feature in Netflix’s viral Heartbreak High reboot and most significantly, selected by the Australian Council for the Arts‘ Contemporary Music Touring Program and soundtrack to Samsung’s Galaxy Flip4 launch campaign, 1300 continue to pave the way for the next generation of the Asian diaspora.
Keep in touch