Having broken through into the collective consciousness of Aussie music fans back in March with “No Caller ID”, Korean-Australian hip-hop outfit 1300 are back at it again, dropping the riveting “Smashmouth” today.
The product of rako, goyo, DALI HART, producer-singer Nerdie, and producer pokari.sweat, the collaborative collective that is 1300 have been making music for some time now, blending various genres into one hip-hop-inspired brew that is as sharp as it is palatable. With bilingual lyrics, slick flows, and an almost never-ending sense of movement in each and every bar, both 1300 and “Smashmouth” are a truly inimitable creation that defy categorisation.
“With ‘Smashmouth’, we try to maximise our expression in 3 minutes,” the group explain. “The song is structured in a way where the instrumental supports the vocalist’s individual energy and personality, so it naturally shifts and moves with the artists.
“There are 4 of us on vocal duty, and 2 on production. When we perform this song live, the audience feels like they’re coming up on an mdma peak (especially at 1:55 where all the synths come in for the last verse). They eat it up, it’s a real moment and we live for it. We really, really, really don’t want you to get bored listening to this song, so we made sure that could never happen.”
Alongside the track, 1300 also teamed up with VIDEOHEAD to share a Raghav Rampal-directed video which blends performance with vibe as it adds context to the clip, but also showing a sense of fun within the group, showcasing an almost inexplicable side to it all by way of creative animations, stills, and shots.
While it remains to be seen just what might be next for 1300, if “Smashmouth” is anything to go by, it’s clear that they won’t be running out of ideas any time soon.
1300’s “Smashmouth” is out now via NLV Records.
