Jason Shulman (born 1972), previously known by the stage names Reason, Rea' or MC Reason, is a retired

Australian hip hop Australian hip-hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip-hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of musi ...

artist, who works as a secondary school teacher. He released four studio albums: ''Solid'' (2000), ''Reography'' (2002), ''One Step Ahead'' (2004) and ''Window of Time'' (2011), before retiring from his music career.

Early life and education

Shulman was born in 1972 and grew up in a middle-class area in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, becoming acquainted with local hip hop music while still at school during the 1980s. He attended

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

, where he majored in Aboriginal studies.

Music career

Shulman recorded his first tracks in 1988. Apart from hip hop, his musical influences include Australian music of the 1970s and 80s, including

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

and

Australian reggae Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Australia has several bands and sound systems that play reggae music in a style faithful to its expression in Jamaica. Australia has a relatively small Jamaican community, bu ...

. During the 1990s, he became involved in an educational initiative called the Push, which ran workshops on hip hop and contemporary urban cultures to young people in lower socio-economic regions of Victoria. He was also the DJ of ''Hittin' Switches'', a long-running

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

program which played Australian hip hop music. He adopted the moniker Reason for his musical identity, and has also been known as Rea' and MC Reason. He recorded his work on

Obese Records Obese Records was an Australian hip-hop, Australian hip hop record label based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was the largest independent hip hop label in Australia and was home to acts such as Pegz, Hilltop Hoods, Thundamentals, Reason (Australian ...

, with his album ''Solid'' (2000) produced by Jolz, being the first release on the label. and is known for inspiring and uniting other hip hop artists, including

Illy Illycaffè S.p.A. (branded and stylised as illy) is an Italian coffee company specializing in espresso, headquartered in Trieste. Illy markets its coffee globally in silver and red pressurized, oxygen-free cans; operates a network of cafes on sh ...

, Sereck (of Def Wish Cast),

Hilltop Hoods Hilltop Hoods are an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1994 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the " larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa (Matthew David Lambert) ...

Pegz Tirren Staaf, otherwise known as Pegz (or MC Pegasus), is an Australian hip hop artist and producer hailing from Melbourne, Victoria. He was the CEO of Obese Records—the record label responsible for artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Downsyde, a ...

, and Briggs. He released his second album, ''Reography'', in 2002. His third album, ''One Step Ahead'', included

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es of several tracks from this album. In them, he is patriotic but also includes criticism of several aspects of Australian culture. Reason has toured to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Other activities

He hosted many DMC DJ competition finals in Melbourne. Shulman works as a high school teacher, teaching

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and Australian history at

Mount Scopus Memorial College Mount Scopus Memorial College, commonly known as Mount Scopus, or just Scopus, is an independent Modern Orthodox Jewish comprehensive co-educational early learning, primary, and secondary day school, located in the Melbourne suburb of Burwoo ...

in Melbourne (). He has also organised hip hop musical events by artists such as the

, and run

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

workshops and DJ events at the school, and run music workshops in rural

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

communities.

Influence

Tony Mitchell of UTS Sydney described his work thus: After announcing his retirement in November 2011, he was described as one music critic as "an indisputable forefather of the Australian hip hop scene as we know it today".

Personal life

Shulman is married, and has a daughter.

Discography

*''Solid'' (album, 2000) *''Reography'' (album, 2002) *''One Step Ahead'' (album, 2004) *''Life's a Lesson'' (EP, 2006?) *''Window of Time'' (album, 2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reason Australian male rappers 1972 births Living people