Hilltop Hoods have made history today, with a laneway in their hometown of Adelaide officially renamed Hilltop Hoods Lane in the Australian hip hop group’s honour.
Located in Adelaide’s West End, the street, formerly known as Clubhouse Lane, was unveiled at a special event today by Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, which the trio attended.
“Once considered the Australian music industry’s underdogs, the Hoods have harnessed their talent and determination to not only top the charts but build a multi-generational fan base in their mosh pits,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Despite their global success, they have never forgotten their Adelaide roots. That’s why it’s fabulous to permanently recognise their achievements on the streets of the city – just a short walk from the venues where they started making music three decades ago.”
Hilltop Hoods Lane features two large-scale murals by renowned Adelaide artist Vans the Omega and is the sixth addition to the City of Adelaide’s City of Music Laneways trail. It joins tributes to South Australian music legends including Sia, Cold Chisel, No Fixed Address, Paul Kelly and The Angels.
President and CEO of Universal Music, Sean Warner, also made an appearance to present Hilltop Hoods with a plaque celebrating their single “1955” ft. Montaigne & Tom Thum, surpassing more than one million ARIA single sales and accredited 14 x Platinum.
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“As pioneers whose impact reaches well past the boundaries of Australian hip-hop, Hilltop Hoods have left a permanent footprint on our national culture,” Warner said.
“I am deeply proud of Universal Music Australia’s partnership and to share in this historic moment.”
Rolling Stone AU/NZ sat down with Hilltop Hoods ahead of the event to talk about the honour.
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Rolling Stone AU/NZ: Do you remember how this news was brought to your attention, and what was your first reaction?
Suffa: Our manager got in contact with us. He’d been contacted by the Adelaide City Council about the possibility of doing it. When you’re in a band, a lot of things come across your desk, and sometimes they happen, and sometimes they don’t. So we didn’t get excited straight away.
MC Pressure: I guess we were all like, “Yeah, absolutely, that would be an incredible and massive honour — but as if that’s gonna happen!” [laughs]
What does it mean not only for the group but also for Adelaide locals?
Suffa: As someone who’s lived here all my life, it’s quite special to be made a part of your city like that, sort of, formally. It is quite special, especially right in the middle of this district where we cut our teeth. It’s very surreal.
MC Pressure: Yeah, we came up and paid our dues in this district when we were youngsters, so to have a street or a laneway named after us is incredibly surreal, and it’s a massive honour. To be immortalised in the city that wrapped its arms around us when we were coming up, it’s not lost on us how big it is.
Suffa: We’re just three knuckleheads that make music!
MC Pressure: Things like this that are so big can create a bit of imposter syndrome. It’s like, “Whoa, are you sure you want to name an alley after me with what I may or may not have done, allegedly, in the city?” [laughs]
How do you feel about accolades like this compared to, say, six straight number one albums?
Suffa: It’s a different kettle of fish. And I don’t know what a kettle of fish means.
MC Pressure: Don’t think about it too deeply.
Suffa: OK. It’s just a whole different category to me. This is something I think, later on, our kids will be able to appreciate in a way that they might not be able to appreciate some of the moments in our career. It’s bricks and mortar.
MC Pressure: It’s more permanent. Less ephemeral. Albums often get attached to a moment in time for people [in their] formative years. Sometimes, you look at our albums, [they’re] like a calendar of stages of their life. But this is something that is permanent and will always be there for generations. So, it feels bigger.
We’re now over a year removed from Fall from the Light and the accompanying Australian tour. How do you reflect on that record and the shows now?
Suffa: I’m really proud of that record. I listened to it for the first time in a long time recently, just out of curiosity. And I was like, it’s probably my favourite. Every group or artist says their last project is their favourite, but genuinely, for me, I haven’t felt this way about a record in a long time. And the shows that accompanied it were just mind-blowing. To be able to go back out there and do our biggest tour at this stage in our career was just amazing. It’s been an amazing ride.
MC Pressure: For me, Fall from the Light, I’m incredibly proud of it. I do think it’s our most consistent offering, start to finish. And it was strange putting it out, because the landscape had changed so much, and there was a six-year gap between The Great Expanse and Fall from the Light. The industry itself had changed so much. So it did feel like coming back, but coming back in a good way, to find out there was still so much support and love for us. Sometimes the only way to tell is how many heads rock up to a show. How do you gauge success?
Suffa: This is how I measure love and friendship. [laughs]
MC Pressure: Because we’ve always been a live band, that’s how I measure how well we’re doing. To do our biggest tour of our career, this deep into doing what we’ve been doing for this long, it was incredible.
Can you tell us about any more potential new music on the way?
Suffa: Yeah, we’re working on a Restrung album at the moment. All the arrangements are done, and that should be finished soon, hopefully. And we’re also working on a new album, so we’re working on both records simultaneously. We’re always working.
MC Pressure: You never stop. As a songwriter, you never stop writing lyrics. It ebbs and flows, you know? From doing a lot of work to doing minimal, but it never stops completely.
