14 Times International Rappers Referenced Australia

Get ready for a bunch of kangaroo references

There are few things as exciting in life as the rush of pride you feel when you're favourite rapper shouts-out your hometown, and/or country of birth. Actually, I can think of hundreds of things more thrilling than hearing the word 'Australia' muttered over a drum break, but it's still vaguely amusing. Right? Anyways, here are 15 examples of rap songs that reference the nation which gave the world Yahoo Serious.

Immortal Technique "Reverse Pimpology"

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'Every city, state and country, the hood love me/Even Aborigines in Australia bump me.'

In an attempt to express how far reaching his appeal is to rap fans, Immortal Tech implied that his tapes stay in heavy rotation even as far away as the Australian outback on this track from 2008's The Third World LP

 

A$AP Rocky "Jukebox Joints"

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'It's not just model bitches on my genitalia/Did Azalea's from Australia, trips to Venezuela.'

This line works since it's both factually accurate and uses Iggy's name as a noun for random white chicks at the same time. Well played, sir.

Cypress Hill "No Rest For The Wicked"

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'Let me take you down under on a plane, where everybody was going insane/Took a look at the real one - afro gone, the next morning, you didn't have yours on!'

As much as I enjoy most diss records, the ones made by dudes who used to be friends tend to offer the most amusing of observations. Take the example of Ice Cube and Cypress Hill, who after recording and touring together had a public feud when the trio accused O'Shea of ripping off the hook to their song "Throw Ya Set In The Air" for his cut for the Friday soundtrack.

Westside Connection "King Of The Hill"

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'As I stick it like King Kong and play ping pong/with this fake ass Cheech and Chong/Did you tell ya momma that I had to help ya/when Sen Dog left your bitch ass in Australia?'

Cube replied to "No Rest For The Wicked" by stating that 'B-Real sounding like he got baby nuts,' calling them 'hip-hop hippies' and countering the line about how he shaved his head to copy him by reminding the Cypress Hill front-man that he helped out on stage when Sen Dog had to leave an Australian tour early. Hardly "No Vaseline", was it?

Curren$y feat. Corner Boy P, Fiend and Smoke DZA "The Usual Suspects"

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'From Australia up to Montauk, I kill 'em with the don talk/And when it comes to this indie bread, I'm the hip-hop Thom Yorke.'

Bonus points to DZA for name-dropping the lead singer of Radiohead of instead of another hackneyed Coldplay reference, although a Bon Scott mention would have been more appropriate to tie it all together.

F.T. - "Southpaw Cypher"

F.T. - "Southpaw Cypher"

'Southpaw Cypher' - Shabaam Sahdeeq, El Gant, FaMo$o, Nutso, F.T., Bekay, Dov, Flo, 151 Proof & Climax/ In the lab developin' flows that's elegant/Eatin' like a polar bear, shittin' like an elephant/Now I get to smoke my bud instead of sellin' it/out in Australia at the beach pettin' pelicans'

I don't recall F.T. aka Fuc That from Street Smartz ever visiting this country, but maybe he snuck in without alerting me. For all the wonderful things tourists tend to remember about Aussie beaches, I'd have to say that patting pelicans is not high on the list. Maybe he's a big fan of the film Storm Boy?

 

Redman "Back Inda Building"

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'I lay my hats where my boots stompin'/Whether Jersey or Australia with kangaroo jumpin'

Considering that Reggie Noble has visited these shores several times, we can only assume that he was too blazed to notice that the streets of Australia's major cities are not filled with feral kangaroos when he recorded this track for 2007's Red Gone Wild: Thee Album.

Lupe Fiasco "Girls"

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'Now we Down Under, 'bout to make it jump/Sydney’s prettiest fans in the front/Hip-hop show but act like it’s punk, 1500s drop the beat at once/Came for one show might stay for a month'

Apparently this is leftover track from the Lasers sessions, although it sounds a lot more like a throwaway mixtape track since he's just rapping over The Prodigy's song of the same name.

Cam'Ron "Leave Me Alone, Pt. 2"

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'But listen, stop it child - it's a done deed/Come to ya block, stop, it's that one D/Gators straight from Crocodile Dundee/No rubber sole, hardwood bastard/Fitted, legitted, hardwood classic.'

While not a patch on part one, this track from the Purple Haze album offers the best Paul Hogan reference yet laid down in a rap song with Killa's declaration of his footwear superiority over you patent-leather peasants.

Elzhi feat. Phat Kat "Yeah"

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'Got fans all over the land from London to Jamaica/Paris, France, Asia, Hampton and Malaysia/Lost the whole day flyin' from Sydney, Australia.'


Over a shuffling Black Milk beat, Phat Kat notes both the excessive length of time it takes to fly to the other side of the planet and makes note of the the sixteen hour difference that results from crossing the Equator. Or maybe I'm giving him way too much credit.

JJ Doom "Rhymin' Slang"

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'Chip in the head, MCs is bought and sold/Their rhymes ain't worth the weight it cost to gold hold/It's like a thin chain from here to Brisbane/Y'all shall not print his name in vain, rep the insane.'

Fun fact: MF Doom borrowed an M-Box from Brisbane's Len-One (his manager picking it up from Len's 77 year old mother-in-law) to lay down some tracks while he was touring in 2012, before chowing down for a BBQ lunch with local rapper dude Simplex. This explains why Dumile chose to shout-out/mispronounce Brisvegas on the song in question for his project with Janeiro Janel.

Souls Of Mischief "Tour Stories"

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'Ain't no way to count all the flights I'm takin'/Chillin' in Australia with them white Jamaicans'

I originally took this as an amusing dig at the white kids with dreads who used to loiter around Fitzroy and Collingwood, but later realised that this was simple light-hearted shout-out to everyone he's smoked a joint with backstage. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

7L & Esoteric "Restrospect"

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'Dropped 'Protocol' I'm breaking things in Australia/'Def Rhymes,' 'Be Alert' - far from a failure'

For the Boston duo's 1212 LP, Seamus took a look back at their achievements since they debuted in 1996, which included a nod to their single debut with production from Melbourne's Jase and Prowla.

Mathematics feat. GZA, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Cappadonna & Masta Killa "Wu Banga" [Remix]

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'Australia - Ghost, Mount Everest, cactus heads/Raid the desert, clench a camel thirst - Polish Spring beverage'

The remix of this posse cut from Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele album (found on Mathematics' Wu-Tang Clan and Friends Unreleased) features what are either new lyrics at the end of Ironman's verse or just restores the section that was trimmed from the original session. Either way, this is vintage Tony Starks non-sequitur brilliance.

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