Securing his place as one to watch among a promising new wave of Australian rappers, Miko Mal’s December-released mixtape How to Fish was one of the best local rap projects of 2024.
From collaborating with local poster boys like Nerve, Cult Shotta, and Chillinit, to being named in the 2022 Acclaim All Stars, and more recently opening up for UK rising star Nemmzz, there isn’t much that the Melbourne rapper hasn’t completed on the Aussie music industry checklist.
With a strong message set on his new tape, I sat down with Mal for a rare interview.
“People just want to hear authenticity. In Australia, I don’t feel there’s enough of that.”
Upon moving to a lockdown-stricken Melbourne in 2021, Mal quickly settled into his new surroundings. While understanding the local sound took time, he instantly translated. Back then, Mal was closely associated with Collingwood-founded 66 Records, making waves at the time for launching as Australia’s first African-owned label.
During his gradual rise in the years to come, Mal released his The Crib mixtape series alongside staple singles like 2021’s “MEEKO PT.1”, but none would have quite the impact of his Egyptian-Turkish inspired “Ya Rab”.
The track garnered massive support from triple j, helping separate Mal from other rappers at the time due to “Ya Rab”s unique production and bilingual lyrics. At its core, the track’s success signified what Australian hip-hop lacked – more cultural influence— leading to Mal’s stock skyrocketing.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ also covered his rise, naming “Online”, the second track on How to Fish, a Song You Need to Know in 2023. A year and a half later, it’s time for Mal’s first Rolling Stone profile.
I meet Mal in a rural park in Melbourne’s far north for a long-overdue chat. We find a nice riverside spot – but his mixtape title was misleading. “I know we’re by a little lake right now, but I’ve never fished,” he says with a laugh. As we proceed, Mal prefers to let most of his work-related interactions bloom naturally. “I don’t force myself to talk with people. I don’t think there’s a need to because that builds a fake foundation, and if everyone’s faking, there is no foundation.”
Mal’s Turkish Melbourne-born father was the youngest of his family, while his mother immigrated from Egypt. Throughout his childhood in Melbourne’s inner city, the creativeness of Naarm’s notorious street culture inspired Mal to try his hand at music.
Bouncing in and out of home studios before finding his feet at Marshall Street Studios during his initial recording days, Mal’s early The Crib mixtape series showcased his distinct flow and smooth delivery, attracting a solid local fanbase.
“I wish I could speak Arabic and Turkish fluently. One word in English has like ten words in Arabic, there’s so much emotion behind it.”
How to Fish, meanwhile, was a 17-track “coming of age” project. Displaying a newfound sense of maturity, Mal aims to set a blueprint that he didn’t have.
“For the most part, in reality, a lot of people that are successful usually have industry connections,” Mal insists. “Their parents might be in the industry already. Australia is well regarded in the creative world, but we have no mentors, there’s nobody showing the way.”
Anticipation for How to Fish had been building ever since “Erling Haaland (Elet Adab)” dropped in 2022, the track arriving during a transitional phase for Mal as he traded “Babyface” for “Miko” in his artist name.
“Miko’s a nickname from when I was a baby, and so is Mal, my names Malik. Babyface Mal was just the hood nickname, and I kinda just wanted to grow out of that,” he explains.
“I still like the nickname, people still call me Babyface. I just wanted longevity and to put myself in a different headspace going forward as an artist – I wanted to feel like me again.”
In recent years, The Kid LAROI and ONEFOUR have opened doors for Australian hip-hop artists internationally, elevating the scene to new levels and helping cement its presence on the global stage. But it’s unclear whether the industry has made the necessary adaptations to help facilitate further growth.
According to Mal, a huge part of the issue is due to a lack of passed-down knowledge. “It’s about making your own way, making money, building a career and a foundation,” he says, revealing that this can-do attitude helped spawn How to Fish.
“Olders [sic] will give you a fish, and say ‘figure out how I caught it.’ They won’t show you the paths…. There’s a lot of people that are (and were) around me that had a lot of potential to do big things, but nobody teaches you how to balance music and the lifestyle.”
How to Fish was the culmination of years of experimentation and refinement from Mal. Featuring everything from high-energy street anthems, sexy-drill, and mellow introspection, The mixtape is without a doubt Mal’s most polished so far, and unquestionably his most self-reflective.
Mal’s artistic growth is obvious if you listen to his releases throughout the years, partly highlighted through his drastic sound progression which has an unmissable UK grime influence at its core. “Growing up in inner city Melbourne, it was always the gritty and the gutter – that was the vibe everyone was on,” he explains.
“We were listening to grime, we were outside in tracksuits with spray jackets and hats…. Gutter was the vibe in Melbourne; cold and rainy – and you go anywhere. We’d just ride the trains and shit.”
With the major success of ONEFOUR, drill’s become synonymous with Australian hip-hop culture. But in 2025, despite the genre’s previous success, drill is outdated, and Australia’s unwillingness to accept new ideas into the space is holding back its own advances, including artists ready to usher in the next era.
“There’s too many drill rappers in Australia,” he claims. “If you’re an up-and-coming rapper, why are you making drill? We’ve [Australia] latched onto drill like it’s our sound, how would drill be our sound?
“In reality, there’s not that many drillers out there that are all fucking rapping now. Drill’s had its moment, and the only people that remain successful are certified. I reckon a lot of people need to take note of that.”
On How to Fish, staying true to himself was a conscious effort. “Every line is poignant; it has purpose and there’s substance to it. Everyone’s a copycat of someone else. Everyone needs to be authentic; the way you dress, talk, and even your emotions. Why cap? There are gangsters that still make heartfelt music, but everyone tries to be hard and look a certain way.”
While he’s now a leading name in Melbourne (and Australian) hip-hop scene, growing renown doesn’t come without confrontation. Over the last couple years, comparisons with Central Cee have picked up steam, with critics highlighting similarities between their flows and fashion – a reach if you ask Mal.
“Everybody sounds like their influences. During my teens, it was mostly British rap over American rap because that was more relevant and I related to it more, and naturally that might’ve influenced the way I sound,” he counters.
“I never listened to Central Cee until ‘Sprinter’ came out. I mentioned him in ‘Erling Haaland (Elet Adab)’. You might as well shout out modern culture, you know what I mean?”
On “La Haine”, the tenth track on How to Fish, Mal gives him another nod, rapping “…the broski working with Central Cee, I’m at Melb Central with a bag of C.” Last year, Judah Tribe (a rising Melbourne-based streetwear brand) launched an exclusive collab with Central Cee’s clothing brand Syna, and recently teamed up for another to celebrate Central Cee’s debut album release in January.
“That bar was because my boy Raf (owner of Judah Tribe) has done business with him,” Mal says. “Obviously I’m gonna mention that, but people don’t even clock it. They say ‘why are you trying to ride his dick’ or whatever, but this is my reality you dumb fuck,” he adds with a straight face.
“I think nowadays if you rap on clean beats and you’re well-spoken and not trying to be ratchet, people just automatically compare you to Central Cee.”
Now settling into himself as an artist, Mal’s built a formula that allows him to walk the fine line between the streets and the industry, finding a new way to present a modernised version of Melbourne streets to the rest of Australia.
Mal’s an artist who highlights the country’s diversity and the importance of culture in music. The drill wave in Australian hip-hop will always be remembered for creating space for local rappers in the international space, but as Mal says, the world needs new sounds.
“The other day someone sent me something that said ‘save Oz rap.’ I’m coming.”
Having just released the “Aussie Disposals” music video, Mal’s got a new project lined up for release in the coming months which he says will get back in touch with his heritage, with some international features also in the works. “People will relate to it and also get a taste of my world, my culture, and my environment.”
“Everything leading up till now has been ‘the warm up,’” he says.
