32 Songs - Track 17

Dumb Enough - Hilltop Hoods

I’m scared of getting old, so when it comes D-Day,
I’m a thank you all for dissing me, then say something clichéd,
And when I’m dead and buried I want you in ‘Life Be In It’ shirts,
At my cemetery singing…

Hilltop Hoods and we’re coming up,
So step on up if you’re dumb enough
Hilltop Hoods and we’re coming up,
So step on up if you’re dumb enough.

When did rap become hip-hop?.......... and what the hell is hip-hop?

And since we're at it can someone please tell what the fuck roots music is? I'm the production manager of one of this country's larger music events and I still have no idea what roots music is. Personally I blame Jordie Kilby so maybe he and I can sit down over a Pale and he can explain it to me one day.

Apparently Hilltop Hoods are an overnight success in the Australian music scene. Which is funny because I first saw them at the Cargo Club in Adelaide sometime in the mid-nineties. They were pretty messy that night. Thankfully ten years has done wonders for them and they brought us all a present a couple of years ago when they released The Calling. The Hoods have brought intelligence and wit back to rap music. Illustrated with aplomb by the excerpt from Dumb Enough at the top of this post.

Rap has taken a beating in the last fifteen years. From the "CNN of the streets" that was Public Enemy and Run DMC to the "look at my pretty gold chains and cars" of the current crop of rappers like - well they all have stupid names don't they? Thankfully it seems to be comming out of the wilderness thanks to groups like the Hoods, Koolism, The Streets and a few others.

Dumb Enough makes this list for the following three lines

"I'll make origami of your lyrics"
"Gee that's good Suffa, what is it?"
"It's a SWAN!"

It's pure lyrical gold that made me laugh out loud and because of that I will never forget those three lines. Which is exactly what a good song should do.