1300 break the internet with debut mixtape Foreign Language, out now

by the partae
Photo by Raghav Rampal + Elijah Flores

ACCLAIM FOR 1300

Feature Artist
triple j Unearthed

“The Korean-Australian collective just keep bringing the heat” 
triple j

“At this point every 1300 release is an event”
Sydney Morning Herald

“All-stars”
NME Australia

“Sydney’s 1300 are making a lot of noise, and I like it, you know,
like, like-like it, like love it actually”

Complex AU

“With bilingual lyrics, slick flows, and an almost never-ending sense of movement
in each and every bar, 1300 are a truly inimitable creation that defies categorisation”

Rolling Stone Australia

“You need to watch 1300 tear through ‘Gangnam Style’ on Like A Version”
Junkee

“If you need a real musical kick up the ass today or something to get your brain
firmly locked into Friday Mode, this run at “Gangnam Style” from 1300
is absolutely perfect for that”

Pedestrian TV

“Don’t try to describe their sound. Just enjoy it.”
VICE Australia

“Founded in a garage in Sydney’s West, 1300 subverts expectations of
what a Korean rap group should be”

Acclaim

“Putting a uniquely homegrown twist on the sounds of Seoul”
Life Without Andy

“1300 have taken the Australian music scene by storm”
Purple Sneakers

“Eclectic, forward-thinking bursts of brilliance that never fail to hit”
Pilerats

“1300’s music is a conscious-expanding experience transcending language”
Sniffers

1300 (pron one-three-hundred), the trailblazing Korean-Australian rap group, have unveiled their debut mixtape, Foreign LanguageLISTEN + WATCH HERE.

Inspired by the consistent state of flux, Foreign Language is indicative of the cross-cultural place 1300 occupies as a foreign entity, not quite fitting in with the local so-called Australian scene nor the folks back home in Korea. Their music embodies the endless possibilities of creativity that emerge from paving your own path, existing between and across multiple cultures, allowing us to connect in a way that words alone cannot.

Foreign Language is a dose of high-energy rap music that transcends language barriers through banging beats and hard-hitting vocal performances. Reflective of the chaotic nature of the group’s upbringing, straddling alternate worlds, and varied musical experiences, Foreign Language is a whirlwind of bass and synth that triggers excitement. Produced and mixed entirely by 1300, their debut mixtape can convert any crowd or listener into speakers of their own foreign language.

The mixtape’s title track arrives today with a music video directed by frequent collaborator Raghav Rampal, following the group around an adventure at Luna Park. Speaking to the release, 1300 share that Foreign Language is “A celebration of friendship and 1300 as a collective,” and that visually the title-track serves “the idea of the camera as a foreign entity that the boys find and then decide to hang out with for a day – so we travel with the boys in an arcade, karaoke and Luna Park. We just got everyone together and shot something fun because we blew the budget on all the other videos. It was literally just all of us hanging out and having fun.”

The result is a furious mashup of hyperactivity, born from Nerdie and pokari.sweat’s genre-bending production, helmed by rakogoyo and DALI HART’s gritty flows, juxtaposed again with Nerdie’s lazily-sung hooks. Trolling through abrasive bounce on ‘Shake It‘ to chopped and screwed on ‘Come On‘, drum and bass nods in ‘Woah Damn‘ and ‘No Talk ft. Agung Mango‘, boom bap on ‘Undercover‘, ‘Ralph‘s spaced out breakbeat and EBM sub-heavy ‘Payphone ft. Raj Mahal‘ or the gentle afrobeat of ‘Worldwide‘ – the sound of 1300 can be neither pigeonholed nor defined in simple stylistic terms.

What guides 1300 is their strength as a collective, concentrating each of their artistic visions and personalities into one seamless whole. Lyrically bound by the pursuit of feeling, each rapper flirts with the production, the syllabic shape of their words shifting from breathless to animated through autotune and back again. Through their production, inspired by Super Smash Bros to The Fast and Furious, Wreck-It Ralph, Far East Movement’s ‘Like A G6’ and BLACKPINK, 1300 prove nothing is off-limits.

Since their debut release in 2021, ‘Brr‘, 1300 have continued to ascend, culminating in their breakthrough release ‘No Caller ID‘. Praised by tastemakers including AcclaimPurple SneakersAUD$ and Korean rappers Palo alto and Lil Boi, it was ‘Smashmouth‘ that took the group to fever across triple jFeature Artist on Unearthed and praise from Rolling StoneNMESniffers and more. Following a remix of Payday and Danny Brown‘s ‘Vampire‘ and their riotous, live show, 1300 have since supported stages with Genesis Owusu, PNAU, Shady Nasty and more, plus festivals including Beyond The ValleyField Day, Wildlands Festival and soon, a sold-out appearance at VIVID LIVE and Splendour In The Grass.

This year they continue to conquer with ‘Oldboy‘ and ‘Rocksta‘, securing fans in triple j with their debut Like A Version performance covering Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’, acclaim from Complex AustraliaVICEPedestrianJunkeeRed Bull MusicSydney Morning HeraldRAGEMTVThe MusicMusic Feeds, and community radio play nationally, including FBiSYNRTR FM and more. Today, the self-proclaimed boys from outer space arrive with the release of Foreign Language. Over thirteen tracks, rappers rakogoyoDALI HART and producers Nerdie and pokari.sweat, rewrite the rulebook with their explosive Korean-English raps. Each song is as unpredictable as the next and uniquely, 1300.

Foreign Langauge is out now, buy/stream it here.

TOUR DATES
Fri 27 May – VIVID LIVE @ Sydney Opera House – Eora / Sydney
Fri 22 Jul – Splendour In The Grass – Cavanbah / Byron Bay
Fri 5 Aug – Enmore Theatre – Eora / Sydney*
Sun 7 Aug – Northcote Theatre – Naarm / Melbourne*
Fri 12 Aug – Hobart Uni Bar – nipaluna / Hobart*
Sat 20 Aug – Metropolis Freemantle – Whaylyup / Freemantle*
Fri 26 Aug – Fortitude Music Hall – Meanjin / Brisbane*
Sat 27 Aug – Hindley Street Music Hall – tarndanya / Adelaide*
*supporting Confidence Man

Stay connected with 1300:
Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud

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