360 : Falling & Flying

Having followed 360's rise from humble beginnings to the top of the ARIA charts it's been interesting to see the progression. As one of the faces of the youth uprising in Aussie hip hop, Matt '360' Colwell has become a prime target for haters. The Melbourne native is an easy prey for those looking to point at what's supposedly wrong with today's generation of rappers. "We party so much, got our folks worried that our hearts will blow up," he says on lead single and stand-out Throw It Away. Using the adversity as ammunition, he forges ahead on the electro-driven Falling & Flying. If he's not sampling artists like The Whitest Boy Alive, on the funky Pez-assisted Just Got Started, he's working with Josh Pyke (the aforementioned Throw It Away). While living in the moment, he's planning for his future as an artist with the growth shown on the follow-up to his rather earnest 2008 debut. The best and worst of his genre-hybrids are typified by I'm OK, where a rather ordinary electro beat is held together by '60s personality. That's the conflict, where you can appreciate his charisma and many of the shared sentiments but not the musical presentation. This ain't meant to be your daddy's hip hop, but obviously it is for 360's growing legions and they have spoken.

Best Track: Killer

If You Like These, You'll Like This: Timez Are Weird These Days THEOPHILUS LONDON, Lasers LUPE FIASCO, When Fish Ride Bicycles THE COOL KIDS

In A Word: Transitionary