As the sun’s rays shone down from above, Brisbane’s Aussie hip hop massive descended on Victoria Park for the third incarnation of Sprung.
Arriving just in time for Melbourne’s Brad Strut I notice a crowd of hundreds gathered early, lapping up his every word while he fought the direct sunlight in his eyes. Rumours of Trem being there to take the stage for a Lyrical Commission reunion were proven unfounded but that didn’t stop the man they call Strutter putting in a heavy performance.
Thundamentals took to the second stage just as Horrorshow were finishing up on the main stage and were lucky enough to get a strong crowd for the majority of their set.
The Sydneysiders have carved out a nice little place for themselves, and from their relaxed but entertaining set it’s easy to see why. Playing tracks from both their albums as well as new single ‘Smiles Don’t Lie’ MCs Tuka and Jewson had the crowd flowing.
By this point the the sun had well and truly set and temperatures were quickly dropping. The punters enthusiasm was not dampened, though, with the appearance of Urthboy.
Fighting to keep his crowd against the popular Seth Sentry on the main stage, Urthboy pulled out all the stops for a highly entertaining and energetic show featuring lots of banter with the crowd and special guest Jane Tyrell, who arrived on stage during the second song to loud cheers from all over. Midway through, the set took an unexpected but special turn when Urthboy invited a friend out of the crowd, who took the mic and got down on one knee to propose to her boyfriend (he accepted)!
A small but enthusiastic crowd remained on the second stage in anticipation of Crate Cartel and were not disappointed as Maundz & Co proceeded to tear it up. The crowd increased dramatically during their show which only pumped them up even more, delivering probably the most intense set of the day. If the confidence and skill on display were any indication these guys won’t be on the second stages for much longer.
Lazy Grey and Jake Biz are Brisbane legends and the 750 Rebels put in another classic show that will only add to their reputation. Backed by DJ Lopsided they ran through tracks from both their careers with Lazy’s ‘That’s What Rap Is About’ and Jake’s vicious ‘Commercial Hell’ being standouts. Midway through the set they were joined by a pumped up Kings Konekted to the delight of the crowd who raised the bar with a stellar guest spot and opened the way for Jake to announce a new album from him and Lazy Grey called ‘Cold Heat’.
Some of the crowd made their way around to catch the end of a triumphant 360 who was headlining the main stage to a packed-out crowd hanging on his every word. Hip hop in Australia is showing no sign of slowing down.
