Harley Webster (born 1981) – better known as Phrase – is an

Australian hip hop Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and is 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 music which i ...

MC, originating from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

History

Phrase began to piece together an album with producers

Daniel Merriweather Daniel Paul Merriweather (born 17 February 1982) is an Australian R&B recording artist. Merriweather's debut solo album, '' Love & War'', was released in June 2009. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two. It was preceded by two sing ...

and J-Skub (Jan Skubiszewki), while working part-time for the Reach Youth foundation,The dream factory for teenagers
Carolyn Webb, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territo ...

'', 12 March 2002. an organisation that Phrase credits with helping him overcome behavioural problems he had in his mid-teens. The album, ''Talk with Force'' was picked up for national release by

Universal Music Australia Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. (UMA) is the largest Australian music corporation. It is a division of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Australia's corporate headquarters are located in Sydney, Australia. Labels Universal Musi ...

in 2005. Three singles were released from this album, "Here Now" featuring Mystro, "Catch Phrase" featuring Daniel Merriweather, and "Hold On" featuring labelmate Max White. In 2007 he founded the record label Crooked Eye with DJ Flagrant and J-Skub. The label's first release was a mixtape by Melbourne MC

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 s ...

(which Phrase also appears on). The same year, he released the non-album single "Face It" featuring Ian Kenny from

Karnivool Karnivool is an Australian progressive rock band formed in Perth in 1997. The group currently consists of Ian Kenny on vocals, Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking on guitar, Jon Stockman on bass, and Steve Judd on drums. Karnivool emerged from a band ...

and

Birds of Tokyo Birds of Tokyo are an Australian alternative rock band from Perth, Western Australia. Their debut album, '' Day One,'' gained them domestic success, reaching number three on the AIR Independent Album charts and spending a total of 36 consecut ...

; which was used in the marketing campaign for the Australian release of

Halo 3 ''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' and continued i ...

In 2009 Phrase released his second album ''Clockwork'', which included the high-rotation

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

singles "Skylight" (featuring

Kram KRAM (1070 AM) was a radio station licensed to serve West Klamath, Oregon, United States. The station, established in 1989, was owned by Scott D. MacArthur, personal representative of the estate of Sandra A. Falk. KRAM fell silent in July 200 ...

) and "Clockwork". The album reached No. 26 on the

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

albums chart and No. 6 on the ARIA Urban albums chart. In 2011, Phrase returned with a new sound for his 3rd album ''Babylon''. The first single was "Apart" featuring Davey Lane. Other guest artists featured on the album included

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

, Sparkadia's Alex Burnett,

Guineafowl Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched o ...

, The Preatures and Jane Doe. During an interview with Reegan from Radar, Phrase said that 'Babylon is not a hip-hop album, but an album with rap on it.' Following a tour in support of the album, Phrase withdrew from making music. He has not performed live or released any new material since.

Personal life

Phrase married Australian R&B singer

Jade MacRae Jade Aurora Moana MacRae (born 4 June 1979) is an Australian soul singer and the daughter of professional musicians Joy Yates and Dave MacRae. MacRae is best known for her top 40 singles MacRae " So Hot Right Now" and "Superstar", both released ...

. He attended Glen Waverley Secondary College as a teen; his father was an English teacher there. He has two sisters – a tattooist and an actress.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

* ''Talk with Force Mixtape'' (2005)

Singles

Guest appearances

– "Pot of Gold", "Crimson Stone" (''Merriweather'' promo EP, 2004) *

– "Superstar" (Crooked Eye remix) (single, 2005) * Mystro – "MC Sick C*!t" ('' Diggi Down Under'', 2006) *

Jase Jace or Jase is a masculine given name, often a shortened version of Jason, and more rarely a surname. People *Jace (artist), French graffiti artist Given name *Jace Alexander (born 1964), American television director and actor *Jace Amaro (born ...

– "Four Seasons" ('' Jase Connection Vol. 1'', 2006) * Juse – "Tied Up" ('' Global Casino'', 2006) * Chopper Read – "Real Life" ('' Interview with a Madman'', 2006) *

Infallible Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fi ...

– "Two Sides of a Coin" ('' The Stratosphere'') * Amiel – "Following the Sun" (Crooked Eye remix) (''Be Your Girl'' single, 2006) * Tycotic – ('' The People vs. Tycotic'' mixtape, 2006) *

– "Talk with Force 2007" (''The Illy Mixtape'', 2007) * Tyree – "Ryders" (''Now or Never'', 2007) *

Bliss n Eso Bliss n Eso (formerly known as Bliss n' Esoterikizm) are an Australian hip hop trio based in Sydney. They are currently signed to Melbourne record label Illusive Sounds, and are managed and booked by label co-founders Adam Jankie and Matt Gudi ...

– "Happy in My Hoody" (''Flying Colours'', 2008) *Illy – "For You" (''Long Story Short'', 2009) *

M-Phazes Mark Landon (born 1 February 1983), better known by his stage name M-Phazes, is an Australian-born producer based in LA. He has produced records for Logic, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Eminem, Kehlani, Zara Larsson, Remi Wolf, Kiiara, Noah Cyrus, ...

– "Music Box" (''

Good Gracious ''Good Gracious'' is the first album by Australian hip hop producer M-Phazes. Released in February 2010 on Obese Records, each track features different artists, including Drapht, Bliss n Eso, Illy and Forthwrite (360 and Pez). At the J Awar ...

'', 2010)

Awards and nominations

*Nomination, 2007

Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) is a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony which was launched by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in several countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards USA, wa ...

Best Male Artist *Winner, 2007 Urban Music Awards Best Hip Hop Single "Hold On" *Winner, 2007 Urban Music Awards Best Video Clip "Hold On"

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 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 songwr ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982. ! , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, "Spaceship" (Harley Webster, Robert Conley, Spencer Davies) , Urban Work of the Year , , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - , 2006 , 'Talk with Force' ,

ARIA Award for Best Urban Release In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

, , Phrase
at the ARIA Music Awards website , -

EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards

The EG Awards (known as ''Music Victoria Awards'' since 2013) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006. , - ,

EG Awards of 2009 The EG Awards of 2009 are the fourth Annual The Age EG (Entertainment Guide) Awards and took place at the Prince of Wales on Friday 20 November 2009. Hall of Fame inductees Painters and Dockers *The Painters and Dockers Painters and Dock ...

, Phrase , Best Male , , -

J Award

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's youth-focused radio station

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

J Awards of 2009 The J Award of 2009 is the fifth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). In 2009, as per 2008, three aw ...

, ''Clockwork'' , Australian Album of the Year ,

References

Phrase Babylon Album Details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phrase 1981 births Living people Australian hip hop musicians Australian male rappers Rappers from Melbourne