Australian Hip Hop

Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music scene with only a few commercial hits in the last decade. Albums and singles are released by mostly independent record labels, often owned and run by the artists themselves. Australian Hip Hop is heavily influenced by US rap and appeals to various ethnic groups,"Ethnic kids in Australia claim to be closest to US rap because of their treatment at the hands of the Australian mainstream. They think they are the ones in Australian who have an authentic experience of poverty, racism, crime, drug abuse, family neglect and being misunderstood by the world".