Robert Alan Hunter (1 October 1975 – 20 October 2011), better known as Hunter or Huntz, was an Australian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and hip-hop artist. He was a founder of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

's hip hop scene in the 1990s and a member of the MC collective Syllabolix (SBX) Crew. During his career, he released four albums: ''Done DL'' (2002), ''Going Back to Yokine'' (2006), ''Monster House'' (2010) and ''Fear and Loathing'' (2011). Hunter died of neuroendocrine cancer in 2011 at the age of 36. He was post-humously inducted into the

Western Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). History WAM was originally fo ...

Hall of Fame and was the subject of a documentary titled ''Hunter: For the Record'' ( see below) which recorded the final years of his life. The anniversary of his death was commemorated by an "AUS All Star" gig and an inaugural Australian rules match, named the Robert Hunter Cup in his honour, both events which brought together members of the hip hop community from across Australia ( see below).

Biography

Early life

Robert Alan Hunter was born on 1 October 1975 and grew up in Yokine, a Perth suburb, with his father, Bob, his mother, Trish, and his sister, Simonne. He was known for writing raps about his home and life.

Career

In the 1990s Hunter emerged as a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

MC and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artist. Hunter, and fellow Perth-based hip hop artists, established the MC collective Syllabolix (SBX) Crew. In 2002, Hunter's song "Jam Roll", produced by

Optamus Scott Griffiths, better known by the stage name Optamus, is one of the MCs of the Perth-based Australian hip-hop group Downsyde and member of WA's Syllabolix Crew. Optamus is also the name of Griffiths' solo project. Music career Downsyde Grif ...

, was included on the

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 ...

compilation, ''Culture of Kings Volume 2''. In the same year, his song "Wake Up" was included on the Obese compilation ''Obesecity''. On 10 May 2002, Hunter's first album, ''Done DL'', was released in collaboration with

Downsyde Downsyde is an Australian hip hop group from Perth, Western Australia. The group is composed of three members, Optamus, Dazastah and Dyna-Mikes. The group has performed alongside groups including Jurassic 5, Cypress Hill, Grandmaster Flash, T ...

's Dazastah on the Syllabolix label via Obese Records. In 2006, Hunter and his partner, Laura, became the parents of a son, Marley. On 1 June 2006, his second album, ''Going Back to Yokine'', followed. His song, "The Big Issue", was released on the 2006 ''Kiss my WAMi'' audio CD and audio jukebox DVD for the 2006

West Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). History WAM was originally fo ...

Festival after he was nominated for an award that year. His next album, ''Monster House'' was issued in 2010, he collaborated with Sydney-based DJ Vame. Hunter's fourth album, ''Fear and Loathing'' – with SBX member Roy Mortimer aka Mortar – was issued in May 2011.

Personal life

Cancer diagnosis

In November 2009, Hunter was diagnosed with terminal neuroendocrine cancer. He wrote: "I was diagnosed with cancer. Neuroendocrine tumours on the pancreas with metastasis to liver... I was devo'd of course as this is pretty much a death sentence." The news generated support from the Australian hip hop community and, in November 2010, a charity eBay auction was organised by fellow MCs, Bias B and Len One called ''Heat 4 Huntz'' to raise money to help Hunter and his son.

Death

Hunter died of his cancer on 20 October 2011, aged 36. In August, one of Hunter's last live shows was at the Railway Hotel, with Mortar, performing the entire ''Fear and Loathing'' album. At the time of his death, Hunter was working on a charity album in support of youth cancer organisation,

CanTeen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

. The album, ''Australian Hip Hop Supports CanTeen'', was released on 2 December 2011, and completed with the help of fellow SBX crew member, Dazastah. It includes songs from Hunter,

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) ...

Drapht Paul Reid, formerly Paul Gary James Ridge, (born 4 September 1982), better known by the stage name Drapht, is an Australian hip hop artist from Perth. Drapht is a member of the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, a collective that includes fellow Perth-base ...

, Downsyde,

Koolism ''Koolism'' is an Australian hip hop duo originating from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The members are lyricist Hau Latukefu (born Langomi-e-Hau Latukefu, 1976, Queanbeyan, Australia) and producer/DJ/musician Danielsan Ichiban (born ...

, Bias B and

Hermitude Hermitude are an Australian electronic music, electronic-Australian hip hop, hip hop duo, originating from the Blue Mountains (Australia), Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Biography Early years Multi-instrumentalists, Luke Dubber (a.k.a. Luke ...

. Hunter is survived by his 5-year-old son, Marley, his partner, Laura, his mother, Trish, and his sister, Simonne.

Faith

As expressed in his song ''I asked God'' from the album ''Bring it All Back'', Hunter was a Christian, although not much regarding his faith is known.

Legacy

Influence

Hunter was an influence on Australian hip hop artists such as Drapht, who had been included on Hunter's 2002 ''Done DL'' album, after writing raps secretly "for three or four months" and showing them to Hunter. Hunter had been in Drapht's sister's class at school, and Drapht had seen him perform at the Hyde Park Hotel along with Dazastah and Downsyde. Drapht helped raise funds for cancer research based on his friendship with Hunter in the 2011

Dry July Dry July Foundation is an Australia, Australian Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit organization founded in 2008 that runs an annual campaign called "Dry July" that challenges people to abstain from drinking Alcohol (drug), alcohol throughout J ...

fundraiser.

Awards

At the 2012

Hunter was post-humously inducted into the WAM Hall of Fame.

''Hunter: For the Record''

A documentary entitled ''Hunter: For the Record'' was made about his career and battle with cancer. The documentary's premiere screening was at the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of screen culture including film, television, videogames, digital culture and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbo ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 27 October 2012, with a second screening in

on 1 November 2012. In a Q&A session following the premiere, the producers stated that they intend to screen the documentary at

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s in the following year, and that the documentary would be released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

with additional material that was left out due to time constraints.

Robert Hunter Cup

Melbourne MC Bias B and other members of the hip-hop community planned two events to commemorate Hunter's legacy, both events falling under the name ''Robert Hunter Cup''. On Saturday, 20 October 2012, a year after Hunter death, a gig was staged in Melbourne featuring artists including

, Dazastah, Layla and Optamus from the Syllabolix (SBX) crew,

Funkoars The Funkoars are an Australian hip hop act from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The group is part of the Certified Wise crew of hip hop artists from South Australia (including the Hilltop Hoods, and Vents), who also collaborated on variou ...

, Brad Strut,

, Boney & Stoney, amongst others. The following day, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

match was played between two teams, Westside Warriors (with players from Western Australia and South Australia) and Eastside Kings (from the states on the east coast), to raise funds for charity foundation Make-A-Wish. The event which was inspired by an impromptu "kick-to-kick" game at a wake near the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

at the time of Hunter's death. The Eastside Kings (7.8.50) defeated the Westside Warriors (7.4.46) by four points; comedian

Scott Dooley Scott "Dools" Dooley (born 29 March 1980) is an Australian comedian and radio announcer best known for his tenure with state-owned national youth network, Triple J and Nova 96.9. Career Dooley began his career at Triple J as a work experienc ...

was awarded a trophy as "man of the match". Westside Warriors * 00 Dazastah * 1 Defyre * 2 Cam McDonald * 3 Deej * 4 Rodrick * 5

* 6 Javs * 7 Rob Shaker * 8

(captain) * 9 Creed Birch * 10 Scott Bono * 11 Mr Grevis * 12 Simplex * 13 Vents * 14 Flak * 15 Lukic * 16 Conseps * 17 Paul Salta * 18 Armee * 19 Adam Crook * 20 John Stoitis * 21 Kai * 22 Matt Garood * 23 MJ * 24 Bitter Belief * 25 LJ * 26

Pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

* 27 Trumps * 29 John Garood * 30 Todd Nash (coach) * 36 RichoKidd * 64 L Street * 69

Hons Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, o ...

* 75 Mortar * 77 Beats * 99

Reflux Reflux is a technique involving the condensation of vapors and the return of this condensate to the system from which it originated. It is used in industrial and laboratory distillations. It is also used in chemistry to supply energy to Chemical ...

Eastside Kings * 0 Maundz * 1

Hau Latukefu Langomi-e-Hau Latukefu, better known as Hau Latukefu, Hauie Beast, MC Hau or simply Hau, is an Australian hip hop musician and radio host. He is best known as half of the duo Koolism (with Danielsan) and as the host of Triple J's hip hop program ...

* 2 Jessie Lyons * 3 Trem (captain) * 4 Brad Strut * 5 Discourse * 7 Fluent Form * 8 Crispy * 9 Briggs * 10 Troy Skarz * 11 Bigspin * 12 Guy Geezy * 13 Ryhno * 15 Bigfoot * 16 Heata * 17 Dwiz * 18 Josh Davis * 20 A-Love * 22 G Force * 23 Surreal * 25 Swarmy * 29

* 30 Eloquor * 31 Ozi Batla * 32 Dedlee * 33 Deece * 35 Reason * 40 B Wiv * 44 Tornts * 45 Chris Gill * 69 Illergic * 75 Stewbakka (coach) * 77

Urthboy Tim Levinson, better known by the stage name Urthboy, is an Australian hip hop MC and producer from New South Wales. He is widely known for his solo music under the moniker Urthboy, as a founding member of the hip-hop group The Herd, and for c ...

* 85 J Stark * 87 Mitus * 88 Bias B The event was repeated the following year, with the Robert Hunter Cup match played at

Victoria Park, Melbourne Victoria Park is a sports venue in Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The stadium is oval shaped and was built to host Australian rules football and cricket matches. In the past Victoria Park featured a cycling track, te ...

, on Sunday, 6 October 2013, preceded by another "Aus All Stars" gig the night before. Eastside Kings (8.8.56) again defeated Westside Warriors (7.7.49). The final Robert Hunter Cup match played in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, on 25 October 2014 ended with another victory for the Eastside Kings (8.11. 59) over the Westside Warriors (7.8.50).

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Done DL'' - Hunter and Dazastah - Syllabolix /

(10 May 2002) * ''Going Back to Yokine'' - Hunter (solo album) - Syllabolix (1 June 2006) * ''Monster House'' - Hunter and DJ Vame (2010) * ''Fear and Loathing'' - Hunter and Mortar – Obese Records CLND004 (6 May 2011) * ''Australian Hip Hop Supports CanTeen'' Compilation, Hunter plus various Australian hip hop artists – SBX for Charity Hiphopcan001 (2 December 2011) * "Bring it All Back" - Hunter - Syllabolix (4 October 2013)

Extended plays

* ''Lucky Matt's Tatts'' – Hunter (solo EP) – Obese Records (2005)

Contributions

* "Jam Roll" song on ''Culture of Kings Volume 2'' - Obese Records (2002) * "Wake Up" song on ''Obesecity'' - Obese Records (2002) * "The Big Issue" song on ''Kiss My WAMi'' CD and audio DVD - Western Australia Music Industry (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter 1975 births 2011 deaths Deaths from cancer in Western Australia Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Australia Australian male rappers Obese Records artists 20th-century Australian musicians Rappers from Perth, Western Australia 20th-century Australian male musicians