Drapht didn't have to look further than his own backyard when writing his recent track 'Summer They Say', finding a creative wellspring in the upcoming league of hip hop young bloods.
“A couple of younger Perth friends; one being Complete, who just released his album that we put out on my label actually, and another friend of mine Bitter Belief – I haven't been that inspired to work on technicality in terms of my verses and the punchlines. . . I used to be really inspired to write,” Drapht, real name Paul Reid, says.
“I was really inspired in my 20s to focus on the most intellectual double meaning or metaphor that I could stumble across. So every bar would have another metaphor, another metaphor, another metaphor. Then I lost interest and I wasn't inspired by the stuff that was coming out around the world and I didn't think anyone was, in my opinion, inspiring me in the rap world.”
But that's all changed for him as a new generation of hip hop artists eschew mumble rap and return to writing verses with a focus on lyricism. “Now, over the past two years, the whole flow of the rap sound has changed dramatically as well and it's gone back to people really focussing on more technicality of their verses rather than overall song structure,” Paul says.
As the hip hop form has shifted, Paul has strived to keep pace with its evolution and produce music that is both relevant and true to the legacy he has created as Drapht over the past 20 years. “It's been simplified in terms of song structure but then the verses themselves have gone absolutely crazy, flows have changed and the content has changed. It's faster and there's different patterns,” he explains.
“It was a little bit daunting for me initially. . . because after 15-20 years you get stuck in your ways, it's like an old dog doesn't learn new tricks, but I always wanted to push myself to learn those new tricks constantly and stay up with the young kids that are absolutely killing it at the moment.”
While the young guns of hip hop have given Paul a creative jumpstart, it's his own young one at home that has had the greatest impact in his life. “I've got a little ten-month-old [baby] at home now as well so she's taking a lot of my time and energy as they do,” he says.
“She's our first and she's such a little joy; it's definitely changed everything and taken a lot of pressure off constantly working on music. I've got other priorities now – it's a bit cliché but it definitely is the case.”
'Summer They Say' is just the tip of the iceberg for new music from Drapht. Paul says he's been working on new music since his 2016 album '7 Mirrors' and has plans for drip-feeding single releases over the next year and a half.
Last year he released his 'Arabella Street' EP in two parts as a response to shifts in how listeners consume music. “The whole industry has changed in terms of release schedules,” he says.
“Originally with 'Arabella Street' I was going to release a 16-track record but it felt with people's attention span these days and what they're used to in terms of the streaming world, it'd be a bit of a waste of my time.
“So I pushed it back to a nine-track album, and then I'm going to continue releasing songs, whether it's a six-track EP or another nine-track album in the next twelve months. I feel like the time of a 16-20-track album are beyond us now.”
Drapht hits the road for a tour this month that will take him through to December. “I did a live poll online just to get a better understanding of what people wanted to hear and thankfully most of the songs have been in the set over the past ten years anyway, so it's not like going back over songs I haven't played for 15 years and trying to learn them again,” Paul says.
“There are a few songs off an album called 'Who Am I' and 'Brothers Grimm' that are 15 years old, but I'm looking forward to putting older songs back into the set again and showcasing the past 15 years of my back catalogue as well as some new tunes.”
Drapht Australia Tour Dates
Thu 14 Nov - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)Fri 15 Nov - Barwon Club (Geelong)
Sat 16 Nov - UniBar (Hobart)
Thu 21 Nov - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
Fri 22 Nov - The Cambridge Hotel (Newcastle)
Sat 23 Nov - Kambri @ ANU (Canberra)
Sun 24 Nov - SS&A Club (Albury)
Thu 28 Nov - Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane)
Fri 29 Nov - Gilliagans (Cairns)
Sat 30 Nov - Byron Bay Brewery
Fri 6 Dec - Discovery (Darwin)
Sat 7 Dec - Gap View Hotel (Alice Springs)
Fri 13 Dec - Rosemount Hotel (Perth)
