Rapper and producer Rates (aka Aaron Marshall) is straight outta Campbelltown.
The south-west Sydney MC followed his 2013 debut with the release of ‘Untold’ in May. “The response has been quite overwhelming to be honest,” Aaron says. “It was a project we spent the better part of two years working on just trying to find our sound and experimenting with other styles of music and new live instruments.”
Working with producer Bennie On The Beat, Aaron incorporated more live instrumentation into ‘Untold’, calling on his first musical talent as a guitarist for local hardcore and punk bands. “It was a completely different project compared to my first album 'Destroy & Rebuild', which was more traditional hip hop with sampled boom-bap and real vinyl take-off, sort of more traditional old-school hip hop. This one felt like a risk for me but at the same time I knew it was something new and exciting, and I couldn't be happier with the response.
“I had a very unique upbringing in south-west Sydney musically, it was awesome because we had a real underground hip hop scene and we had a real underground hardcore punk and metal scene; as long as it was underground it was cool back then.”
Evolving over the years, Aaron has built a platform for expression, which uniquely represents his vast musical and personal experiences. “Over the years as I got older and matured, hip hop became more of a natural thing for me, and to go full circle with this album and be able to use the guitar again and live drums and bass with all the new-school electronic sounds we have now, it was a fucking awesome feeling.”
Ahead of the show, Aaron says fans should prepare for a hip hop show like no other. “I put a lot of energy into musically delivering these songs, vocally delivering them and with the addition of some live instruments I feel like when that music starts everybody will be dancing around and it will be a great show. It's still a very captivating show; I usually talk and do some more mellow songs, but this one I’m going all-out with a punk vibe for these shows.”
Rates plays the New Globe Theatre (Brisbane) 14 October.
