Melbourne-based hip hop artist Eloquor has smashed out another spirited track called 'Working Class', from his 2017 album 'Lunch'.
The LP refers to the struggles modern Australian working class people have and the envy Eloquor feels towards those with more than him.
“I work nine-to-five and I pay bills and it's tough. It's tough to keep your head above water. Just as soon as you get a paycheck it is gone. Boom, boom, boom, there goes your bills and you've got nothing left. It can be quite painful, the reality so many of us have.
“To be honest, I know it isn't right but I get a little jealous and maybe envious of people who can have really nice cars and nice houses, who can go on nice holidays two or three times a year.
“As much as it's my ego talking, you get a bit frustrated. Why do I have to work so hard and I can't even go on a bloody holiday and all these other people get to live it up a lot more than me. I wanted to capture that feeling, that stress that so many of us are going through these days,” he says.
Eloquor has been working with the at-risk youth, who have inspired his music. “It keeps me grounded. It keeps me in tune with the struggles and the difficulties of growing up in a situation where you don't have everything. You're not blessed with private school education and you're not blessed with a family that can afford extra-curricular activities. It keeps things grounded, it keeps things real,” he says.
Much of the upcoming album is heavily influenced by the interactions he has had with these youth, including the song 'Chat'. “With the young kids I've worked with in the past, if they want to have a chat, just call me. Call, I've got half an hour for a coffee.
“There a lot of young kids, young men, who are committing suicide out there. We had three in the last four months, ex-students of mine. They've taken their own lives. It is a reality.
“They are at-risk kids and they're young men, mostly, that are taking their own lives and it's horrible. Everyone needs a strong, positive, consistent adult that they can chat with, that they can go to if something's going on,” he says.
Eloquor has produced a range of controversial songs, which received a “mixed bag” of reactions.
“Sometimes people are really supportive. For 'Invasion', quite a few indigenous or Aboriginal Australians were like, 'yeah, go mate. That's awesome. Sweet, telling the story without sugar-coating it.' So I've had some really good responses.
“The challenge is some people don't agree, they don't agree with me saying 'I'm jealous of people who are wealthy'. I've had a few comments with people who have been like 'what are you talking about? You don't know what it's like. You're full of it.'
“I still get negative comments, there's always the hater out there but that's alright as long as I'm being honest to myself and telling the stories I want to tell, that's what matters,” he says.
Eloquor main focus is being truthful and expressing what he feels, which is how he found his stage name. "I was looking up a English-Latin dictionary to get a tattoo in Latin, so I was looking it up and I found this word, it was 'eloquor' and I was like, 'what the fuck does that mean?' It said, 'to express oneself' and I was like 'that's the sickest word ever! That's what I'm about.' So I've got the tattoo on my stomach and I became Eloquor.”
'Working Class' is available now. 'Lunch' drops in early 2017.
