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Def Wish Cast, (sometimes known as Def Wish Posse or abbreviated to DWC) are an
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 ...
group from
Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...
.


Biography

Def Wish Cast are an
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 ...
group who are among the few founders of Australian hip hop, "having created something localised that was revered and is now mythologized." The group also states its hip hop credentials through its lyrics, rapping that they are "always hardcore/ 'cos hardcore means true to the music."Maxwell, Ian. "Sydney Stlee: Hip-Hop Down Under Comin' Up." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 259-279. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. DJ Vame stated that being "true to the music" is shown by Def Wish Cast's faithfulness to the "original instruments" of hip-hop: two turntables and a microphone. Originally, Def Wish Cast was composed of MCs Simon Bottle (a.k.a. DefWish), Pablo Chiacchio (a.k.a. Die C), Paul Westgate (a.k.a. Sereck) and featured
turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...
by DJ Vame (Shane Duggan). DWC promote Australian culture by not only explicitly naming local suburbs of Sydney, but also by rapping in an Australian accent. Their distinct Australian sound helped gain the crew notoriety both locally and internationally through graffiti mags. Def Wish Cast embrace not only the music, but all elements of the hip hop culture, including graffiti art and
bboying Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...
. DefWish and Sereck are shown bboying a lot in the Def Wish Cast. They can be seen bboying in Aust (Down Under Comin Upper), Saturday Night by the Sound Unlimited Posse and one of their latest releases Dun Proppa. Although Def Wish Cast is characterised by many traditional elements of hip hop, the group has combined the genre's origins in African American culture with their own local identity. Sereck has said the group respects hip hop's origins in the South Bronx and abroad but that DWC creates something that is distinctly from the Australian hip hop scene, stating, "it's ''our'' thing". For this, Def Wish Cast represents Aussie hip hop in a global market. Def Wish Cast begun performing onstage in 1990, and they signed a record deal with Random Records in 1991. In 1992, the group released a run of 500 four track vinyl EPs, ''Mad As A Hatter'', which featured MC DefWish's Australianised
ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...
style on the track "Proppa Ragga" (which later appeared on the compilation album ''15.Oz Vinyl'' in 2004). "Proppa Ragga" was the first Australian hip hop track to receive recognition outside the country, coming in at number 2 on Norway's
NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...
's Hip Hop show (hosted by
Tommy Tee Tommy Flåten (born 18 December 1971), best known by his stage name Tommy Tee, is a Norwegian record producer, rapper, broadcaster, record executive, concert promoter and magazine publisher. He is known as the godfather of Norwegian hip hop. Tee ...
). In 2012, a copy of ''Mad As A Hatter'' sold on
eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
for A$540. Def Wish Cast then went on to release one of the first full-length Australian hip hop albums, '' Knights of the Underground Table,'' in 1993. Only the Sound Unlimited LP '' A Postcard From The Edge of the Under-Side'' came before it, which was released on a major label,
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
. Def Wish Cast then independently toured Australia, becoming the first Australian hip hop group to tour nationally. After limited commercial success, in 1995 DJ Vame moved to Melbourne, leaving the group in hiatus for almost a decade. During this period, DefWish, Die C and Sereck pursued other interests. MC DefWish concentrated on his band "The Quickness". In 1996, Sereck examined the Sydney hip hop culture in the first Australian hip hop documentary, ''Basic Equipment''. The documentary was made by
Paul Fenech Paul Fenech (born 21 November 1972) is an Australian filmmaker, film and television actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for writing, directing, producing and starring in the television series ''Pizza'', '' Swift and Shift Co ...
(creator of SBS'
Pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...
series) and narrated by Sereck. It featured
MC Trey Thema Thomas, known professionally as MC Trey, is a Fijian singer and rapper. She was nominated as one of Sydney's Top 10 Creative Innovators in the field of music and is a member of ARIA-nominated band Foreign Heights. Career She, Maya Jupiter ...
, Def Wish Cast,
DJ Bonez George Kordas, better known by the stage name DJ Bonez, is a hip hop DJ and producer, originally from Sydney and currently based in Melbourne, Australia. DJ Bonez has been described as being at "the forefront of Australian DJing culture as a pe ...
, DJ A.S.K, Mistery and Wizdm from Brethren and more. The 28-minute program was not aired until the following year. Sereck founded a record label of the same name following the airing of the documentary, and he also united artists from Sydney's hip hop scene to form the Basic Equipment Crew. The collective includes DJ Sing, Frequency Unknown, Sleek the Elite, and DJ Vame, among others. Def Wish Cast reunited briefly in 1997 to record and contribute the track "Hear My Raw" for the international compilation ''Bomb Worldwide''. The album was released through the
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
label Bomb Records. Due to a very small market for Australian urban music at that time, limited commercial response to their first album and the absence of DJ Vame, Def Wish Cast did not record again as a group for almost decade. Since officially re-uniting in 2002, DJ Vame has been replaced by DJ Murda One. The following year, the group released their comeback LP '' The Legacy Continues...'', 14 years after their debut. The lead single "Allstars" was featured in the soundtrack of the film ''
Bra Boys The Bra Boys are centred on surf culture, founded and based in Maroubra, an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the 1990s. The gang has gained notoriety through violence and alleged links to organised crime, as well as some community activism. The Bra ...
. In 2011, Def Wish Cast released a digital single and video clip for "Dun Proppa", a song from their upcoming album ''Evolution Machine''. The same year, ''Knights of the Underground Table'' placed 91st on
Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...
's "Industry List" as part of the
Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time, 2011 The Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time is a listener-voted countdown of albums run by Australian radio station Triple J in June and July 2011. In May 2011, Triple J music director Richard Kingsmill announced that the station would be con ...
poll. The "Industry List" included some of the country's top musicians and industry experts.


Discography


Albums and EPs

* ''
Mad as a Hatter "Mad as a hatter" is a colloquial English phrase used in conversation to suggest (lightheartedly) that a person is suffering from insanity. The etymology of the phrase is uncertain, with explanations both connected and unconnected to the trade of ...
'' - Random (1992) * '' Knights of the Underground Table'' - Random (1993) * '' The Legacy Continues...'' - Hydrofunk (2006) * ''Evolution Machine'' - MGM 2010


Singles

* "A.U.S.T." - Random (1993) * "Allstars" - Hydrofunk (2006) * "DunProppa" - MGM&Creative Vibes (2011) * "Forever" - MGM&Creative Vibes (2011)


Compilations

* "Hear My Roar", ''Bomb Worldwide'' - Bomb Records (1997) * "Proppa Ragga", ''15.Oz Vinyl: 15 Years of Australian Hip Hop on Vinyl'' - Crookneck Records (2004) * "Allstars", ''
Bra Boys The Bra Boys are centred on surf culture, founded and based in Maroubra, an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the 1990s. The gang has gained notoriety through violence and alleged links to organised crime, as well as some community activism. The Bra ...
: Music From The Film'' -
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
(2007) * "DunProppa", ''
Battle of the Year Battle of the Year, commonly referred to as BOTY, is an annual international breakdancing competition that began in 1990. It has been regarded as the premier b-boying competition in the world and has been referred to as the "World Cup of B-Boying ...
'' * "Daily Nightmare (1991 Demo Version)", ''Underground United Vol. 4'' - Underground United (2022)


Guest appearances and contributions

* "Boogie Boy", DefWish & DJ Sing (Feat. Tom Thum) - ''Airheads Two - Australian Beats And Rhymes'' (2005) * "It's Only Right", 13th Son (Feat. Sereck on backing vocals) - ''Airheads Two - Australian Beats And Rhymes'' (2005) * "Too Damn Long", Sereck - ''Airheads Two - Australian Beats And Rhymes'' (2005)


Production

* "Wattz A Kila?", Kilawattz (DJ Vame, production) - ''Basic Equipment'' (1998) * "The Last One", Dope Runner (DJ Vame, production) - ''Basic Equipment'' (1998) * "Flow", Brethren (Sereck, production) - ''Basic Equipment'' (1998) * "Nothins gonna stop me" - 13th Son (Sereck Production) (2001) * "By The Wayside", 13th Son (Sereck, production) - ''Culture of Kings Volume 2'' (2002)


Award and nominations


APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from by the
Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...
(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". ! , - ,
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, "Dun Proppa" , Song of the Year , , , -


References


External links

* {{Authority control Australian hip-hop groups New South Wales musical groups