Awakening emotion with MC The Tongue
The hip hop scene in Australia has changed immensely and Sydney MC The Tongue knows all about that. His career has seen him collaborate with everyone from Suffa (Hilltop Hoods), Illy and Thundamentals. The Tongue is known for constantly pushing the boundaries of the music industry which is seen in his latest banger ‘You Got Me’ featuring Mataya. The catchy beats and flowing rhymes are getting us excited for his single launch at Gingers on 17th October.
We chat to The Tongue about what we can expect from his show at Gingers, the transition of his sound, and how his debut album ‘Hard Feelings’ will encapsulate emotion. Margaret Tra writes.
You are launching your single at Gingers soon, what can we expect?
You'll enter the room to the sound of one of Australia's best club DJs (as well as producer/DJ for Thundamentls) DJ Morgz. After that Blue Moutains rap-God Joe New will rock the mic and then I'll bring home the bacon. Lots of new songs, the first time I've performed them...plus a bunch of the classics.
We’re loving the electro feel and soulful vocals on your latest track, could you tell us about it?
Is it electro? Is it soul? Is it rap? Electro-soul-rap? It’s called "You Got Me" and it features a young singer named Mataya on the chorus. You may know her from her collaboration with my label-mates Hermitude on the song "The Buzz.” I wanted to make a few songs on this record that could be played in a club, this is one of them.
And will be expecting more of this sound from you?
Yeah the new record is mostly produced by this young genius named Papertoy. This is the first time he's executive produced an album but his talent is undeniable and once we completed one song together I knew I wanted him to do a whole album for me. So his sound has hugely influenced my approach to songwriting and we've come up with something pretty special. Plus I've got my favourite new Aussie singers on the record to which include; Thom Crawford, Ev Jones (from Jone's Jnr), Ngaiire and of course Mataya. I also do a little bit of singing myself on there...you'll see.
Will we be expecting a lot of feeling talk in your forthcoming album "Hard Feelings”?
It’s an album of extreme emotions. But its never ‘emo’, hard motherf**kers feel emotion too.
Do you think the hip hop scene here has changed for the better?
It’s definitely gotten more professional. A lot of hip hop musicians in Australia are really treating their journey through music like a career now. Seth Sentry, Hermitude, Allday, 360 and Illy, all these guys are seeing good cash now because they've been business smart from the beginning. People write up business plans and have lawyers and sponsors now, that didn't happen in early 90’s. There wasn't the infrastructure to support artists, nor did artists expect to have a business alongside the music. I'd count that as a positive change for the artists.
If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be?
Bob Marley.
What Stimulates your soul?
Love, music, sushi.