Hyjak N Torcha is 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

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 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Biography

The group formed in 2000, consisting of Hyjak (Jack McCarthy), Torcha (John Chmielewski), and

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 ...

(George Kordas). Hyjak first appeared on the scene in 1998, at the age of fifteen he snuck into a pub in the Sydney suburb of Kings Cross to compete in a rap battle, which he won.Bio at the band's website
/ref> Torcha, hailing from Sydney's west, was an active volunteer youth worker, doing programs in youth prisons and performing at anti-war rallies. Formally part of Sydney's Eth-nik Tribe, another Australian hip hop group. Hyjak N Torcha signed to

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 ...

and their first album ''Drastik Measures'' was released in 2004. "Sneak", a single from that album, received airplay 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 ...

and the video clip was played on ''

rage Rage may refer to: * Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger Games * Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game * Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell * ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first- ...

''. The album was reviewed on Triple J's website. They have since performed with artists including the

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) ...

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "''exhibit''), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, radio personality, and record executive. He began his musical career in 1992, ...

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo formed in Queens, New York (state), New York in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy (rapper), Prodigy and Havoc (musician), Havoc, they are considered to be among the pr ...

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston-based rapper Guru (rapper), Guru. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and is considered a widely influential MC-and-pr ...

Lord Finesse Robert A. Hall Jr. (born February 19, 1970), known by his stage name Lord Finesse, is an American rapper and hip-hop producer from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. crew. About.com ranked him number 29 on its list of ...

Swollen Members Swollen Members is a four-time JUNO Award-winning Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only (who actually helped form the group in the ...

Murs Murs may refer to: People * Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist * Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter * Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper Places * Murs, Indre, France * Murs, Vaucluse, Fr ...

and

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

. The group's members are also affiliated with Dominion, an Australian hip hop crew. Hyjak N Torcha have made guest appearances (together and separately) on records by artists including

(Hyjak performed on

' album '' The Calling''),

Bliss n Eso Bliss n Eso (formerly known as Bliss n' Esoterikizm) are an Australian hip hop trio based in Sydney. The group consists of emcees Bliss and Eso, and DJ Izm, and they are currently signed to Melbourne record label Illusive Sounds, and are manag ...

(Hyjak did a guest verse on the track "Get Loose" on their album '' Day of the Dog'') and

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 ...

(Hyjak and Torcha appeared on

's ''

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

'' album). They also released a videoclip for their track "A Night with Chopper", featuring Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, from his album, '' Interview with a Madman'', which, in 2006, won the award for 'Best New Filmmaker' (Matt Chuang) at the BelowGround Music Video Fest Awards. The group released their second album, ''Unregrettable'', in 2009. The album was produced by Mules and features appearances by

N'fa N'fa (born N'fa Deynde Jo Jo Forster-Jones; Note: user may have to enter the title/performer for other tracks to access further information. also known as N'fa Jones, 21 March 1979) is a British-born African Australian Hip hop music, hip hop rec ...

and S.Q.Z.

Solo careers

Hyjak

Hyjak released his first solo EP in 2002 "Breaking Sound Barriers" through Statik Recordings, DJ Bonez produced the whole EP and it was released on limited 12" inch vinyl. In 2006, Hyjak released a mixtape, ''Shady Characters'' featuring Torcha, Kye, Bliss N Eso and others. He also performed on a track for Jase's single "Nutcase". In 2011, Hyjak released a mixtape called ''The Reminder Mixtape'' featuring Kerser, Chow. P and Thorn. Hyjak released a solo LP, ''Light at the End of the Tunnel'', in 2013, distributed by Obese Records. Two years later Hyjak released his second LP "Stage Diving With No Crowd", released on CD and digital.

Torcha

Torcha formed a five-piece band,

A Broken Silence A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

, with keyboardist B-Don (Brendon Costello), guitarist Cactus (Daniel Bartulovich), bass player Boots (Simon Lennon) and drummer Nathan Tuffin. The band attracted the attention of

Tim Freedman Timothy James Freedman (25 November 1964) is an Australian musician, best known as the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993. Note: n-lineversion was expanded from the 2002 edition. The song " N ...

, who collaborated with Torcha on "The Road is Lost", the first single from the band's debut album, ''All For What'', released in 2009. Torcha played the song whilst touring around Australia with Freedman's band, The Whitlams, with the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

. The album also features guests appearances from Ozi Batla ( The Herd), Patriarch (USA) and DJ Skizo. Torcha released his solo LP, ''Frozen State'', together with producer B-Don in 2010. The beats were created without any use of samples and the instruments are mostly played by B-Don. The album features guest appearances from N'fa, Hyjak, S.Q.Z, 2furious and also

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n mega-star Bobby Kim with his crew Buga Kingz.

Discography

Albums

*''Drastik Measures'' -

Obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

(OBR016) (2004) *''Unregrettable'' -

(OBR066) (2009)

Singles

*"Sneak" - Obese (2004)

Compilation appearances

* ''Lab Exposed - Volume 1'' (1999), Statik Recordings (songs: "Kryptonite + Hijak", "Ill Combat", "Best Kept Secret") * ''The Fourth Element Effect'' (1999), Blitzkrieg (songs: "Wack or Dope", "Yeast Infection") * ''Culture of Kings - Volume 2''(2002), Obese Records (song: "Face The Music") * ''Obesecity'' (2002), Obese Records (song: "Point of No Return") * ''Culture of Kings - Volume 3'' (2003), Obese Records (song: "It's Over") * ''Straight From The Art 2'' (2004),

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

(song: "The Science") * ''Home And Hosed - Freshly Plucked'' (2004), ABC Music (song: "Corrected") * ''Chopper Read - Interview with a Madman'' (2006), Rott'n Records (song: "Night With Chopper") * ''The Stolen Records'' (2007), FBi Records (song: "The Test") * ''The Whitlams - Greatest Hits'', ft Torcha and A Broken Silence (song: "The Road is Lost")

Hyjak solo works

* ''Breaking Sound Barriers'' (2002) ( EP) - Statik Recordings (DSR-006) * ''Shady Characters'' (2006) * ''Light at the End of the Tunnel'' (2013) ( LP) - Obese Records * Stage Diving With No Crowd (2015) ( LP) - All Out Records

Tracks with other artists

Kerser Scott Froml (born 21 August 1987), better known by his stage name Kerser, is an Australian rapper. He has released two mixtapes and several albums since 2009 and his second album ''No Rest for the Sickest'' reached No. 15 on the ARIA albums ch ...

and Hyjak, "Roll on Up" and "I Remember" (2011) * Rates and Hyjak, "Suicide" (2013)

DJ Bonez solo works

Torcha solo works

* A Broken Silence ''All For What...'' - Bad Seed/

MGM Distribution MGM Distribution (Metropolitan Groove Merchants) is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise. It was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase. MGM Distribution was set up specifically as a d ...

(ABS002) (16 October 2009) * Torcha & B-Don ''Frozen State'' - Independent/Obese (TNB001) (5 March 2010)

References

External links

Artist bio
at

website
Interview with Hyjak - Central Station (31 March 2004)
* {{Authority control Australian hip-hop groups Obese Records artists