Delta @ the ANU

It was a night true heads had been waiting for when Delta hit up the stage at ANU to support his latest album, the Second story. With some tight sets from ever improving local crews like the Rhyme Ministers to warm up the small crowd who braved the cold, the loyal faithful were well primed for a night of straight up beats, rhymes and world class turntablism.

First up was Delta’s cohort Mojo from NYC, who did a couple tracks to let the crowd know the bizness end of the evening was in full swing.

Next up was 3 time DMC champion Staen1 who showed the entire gamut of skills on the wheels of steel. Known for his trick mixing he didn’t disappoint (video coming!) taking it back to the days of old with some body moves. For many a dj in the crowd Staen1 stole the show, which says a lot considering the firey set Delta proceeded to throw down. Joined by Staen1 on the decks and Mojo as hype man, Delta hit the stage with the kind of aggression and energy reminiscent of his days on the battling circuit. The kind of intensity that made Brooklyn-based Freestyler MC Pumpkinhead convince the 21 year old Delta to drop his BA of Philosophy in 1999 and head to the Bronx to showcase his skills. Delta reminisces “When I got there, within a week, I met him at the Rocksteady anniversary party, and he was like, ‘Man, we got a cypher poppin’ in the corner. Come and bust a rap”

Most of the crowd were already familiar with the new album, and were as equally hyped for these tracks as they were for classics like ‘Mayday’ off ‘The Lostralian’. Tracks on the new album seem to carry stronger themes than on the ‘Lostralian’ which was more of a natural progression from his battle rhyming days. Delta touches on topics including death, cheating women and the Prime Minister – in which he ended the song by saying “Fuck Kevin Rudd”, while Mojo piped in with “Fuck George Bush” –both met with equally as loud cheers from the easily persuaded crowd of politically apathetics, and left me feeling certain they would have cheered equally as loud if Delta had yelled “Fuck Obama” or even “Fuck you chicken chilly tenders”…

The new album, like the first is still reminiscent of the glory days of hip hop both in production and rhymes. As Delta said of the advice he was given while in the Bronx “They told me, ‘Screw that, dude, if the majority of heads in Australia are listening to ’90s style hip hop, make ’90s style hip hop. We can’t do that in America right now, so you should try to do it in Australia’. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Delta who subscribes to the theory that process of producing a quality product is a far more worthy driver than the aim to reach a specific audience had this to say about the ever increasing amount of AUS hip hop going mainstream “I’ve got no problem with hip hop becoming mainstream, as long as we dictate the way the industry is going. The moment we start sacrificing what we believe in in order to appeal to people that are outside of our culture and quite ignorant to it, then we will be in trouble. I would rather be hated for what I am than be loved for what I am not. Everything I do, I do with my heart behind it. If my heart isn’t in it, I know I’m wasting my time.”

The crowd interaction between the artists and the crowd was at a high level all night. It was no surprise that Delta gave the same show he would have given to a stadium full of 20,000 people, and that the crowd reacted favourably to this. His final words, a quote from his co-producer (the UK’s legendary Mark B), were fitting “It’s not how many people in the party, but how much party is in the people”.

Bal