Spit Syndicate are an
ARIA Award
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
-nominated
Australian hip hop duo, consisting of Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice based in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia. The duo have opened for international acts such as
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...
,
Xzibit,
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
,
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...
,
Atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
,
Brother Ali,
People Under The Stairs,
Diverse
Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to:
Business
*Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce
* Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers
...
and Savage +
Mareko.
The duo are also part of music collective
One Day.
Biography
The group was founded in Sydney's Inner West by rappers Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice. Nick Lupi attended
Fort Street High School
Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...
whilst Jimmy Nice attended Leichhardt High School.
In 2006, Spit Syndicate's released their debut mixtape called ''The Future's Bright'',
which was followed by an appearance on
MTV Australia's ''The Lair'' in July 2007, alongside other musical acts such as
Sparta and
The Hot Lies
The Hot Lies were an alternative rock, alternative rock band based in Australia. The band formed in Adelaide, in early 2004. Their line-up consisted of lead vocalist Pete Wood, rhythm guitarist Benjamin Pix, drummer Jared Brown, lead guitarist L ...
.
In February 2008 the duo signed with
Obese Records
Obese Records was a record label that released music from the Australian hip hop genre. It was the largest Australian independent hip hop label, including performers Pegz, Thundamentals and Dialectrix. Obese Records also operated two retail st ...
, when Nice was 21 years of age and Lupi 19,
and released their debut album ''Towards the Light'' in July 2008.
In a November 2008 interview, Nick Lupi said "We actually signed on the dotted line in February of this year, but we started talking to them in about November of last year. We were both overseas during the summer and we had this album ready and we were gonna put it out when we got back, it was just a matter of who we did it with." In 2013, Nice reflected on their experience of releasing a debut album: "We were so young when we started, we were just little sponges ... We just wanted to know what it was all about, we wanted to be around it, we wanted to be at every gig, we wanted to record at every chance that we got".
The album was nominated for
ARIA Award for Best Urban Album
The ARIA Music Award for Best Urban Album, was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It was handed out by the Australian Recording Ind ...
at the
ARIA Music Awards of 2008
The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of ...
.
In May 2010, they released their second studio album, ''Exile''. In the official press release, the duo said the album was "inspired by the clarity of mind borne out of travel, the feeling of suffocation by one's everyday surroundings and the displacement sometimes required to get right". ''Exiles lead single was called "Starry-Eyed" and received prominent airplay on Australia's
triple j radio station.
''Exile'' debut at number 81 on the
ARIA Charts 510 sales.
In 2010, the duo appeared on the song "Long Winding Road" for M-Phazes' debut album, ''
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 Awards ...
''.
In 2011, Spit Syndicate released ''Best Intentions: Part One'', the first of a free online mixtape series and attracted over 10,000 downloads.
In October 2012, the duo released "Beauty in the Bricks", the first single from the third studio album ''Sunday Gentlemen''. The second single, "Folly", was released in January 2013, followed by the release of the album on 22 February 2013.
Contributing artists included Drapht, Illy and Solo, and production is accredited to Adit, M-Phazes, J-Skub and Styalz Fuego.
In March 2013, Nice explained the duo's different approach for the recording of the album "The first album that we put out, I don't think it was ever really intended for an audience, a wide audience ... We made that album when we were just out of school and it was just something that we could play at parties ... this time we had a greater sense and an understanding of what we wanted out of the record, so we paid a lot more attention to detail, and had a greater creative control and a bigger say in how the product ended up."
Written over two years, the band called the album their "strongest work to date" in 2013.
Nice also explained that the duo's creative process had matured over time, while Adit's production work was more experimental. Spit Syndicate completed a national Australian tour in support of the album, from March until May 2013, with support from Sydney artists Jackie Onassis.
''Sunday Gentlemen'' debuted at number 15 on the ARIA Charts.
In April 2017, the duo released their fourth studio album, ''One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly'' which debuted at number 19 on the ARIA Charts.
In May 2018, the duo released their fifth studio album, ''Orbit'', which debuted at number 61 on the ARIA Charts.
Discography
Studio albums
Mixtapes
Singles
* "Starry Eyed" – Obese
(OBR 072 55) (April 2010)
* "Beauty in the Bricks" – Obese (5 October 2012)
* "Folly" – Obese (25 January 2013)
* "Amazing" – Obese (20 June 2013)
* "Know Better (June 2016)
* "Inhibitions" (November 2016)
* "Emperor's New Flows" (May 2017)
* "Errands" (February 2018)
* "F**k It" (March 2018)
* "Contraband & Conversation" (featuring
Imbi the Girl
Imbi the girl (styled as imbi the girl) is an Australian singer-songwriter, rapper and poet who was born and raised in Sydney.
Career
In June 2017, imbi the girl's debut single "acidic" was released which was soon followed by the release of "V ...
and Kai) (April 2018)
Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as
AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
!
, -
,
AIR Awards of 2013
The AIR Awards of 2013 (or Carlton Dry Independent Music Awards of 2013) is the eighth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Revolt Art Space, in Mel ...
, ''Sunday Gentlemen''
, Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Album
,
,
, -
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
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 of ...
.
!
, -
,
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, ''Towards the Light''
, Best Urban Release
,
,
, -
References
External links
Official websiteat
Obese Records
Obese Records was a record label that released music from the Australian hip hop genre. It was the largest Australian independent hip hop label, including performers Pegz, Thundamentals and Dialectrix. Obese Records also operated two retail st ...
{{Authority control
Australian hip hop groups
New South Wales musical groups
Obese Records artists
Hip hop duos