Album: The Past Beats Inside Me Like a Second Heartbeat by Urthboy (2016)
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Record Label: Elefant Traks
Format: Album

Description: Urthboy has long been an outspoken political voice in Australian hip-hop, but his fifth solo album finds him merging cultural observations with his own personal history. Bittersweet opener “Long Loud Hours” details a famous Sydney prison break over mournful piano, while the fatherhood meditation “Daughter of the Light” and reflective pop of “The Arrow” show Urthboy reminiscing deeply on his roots. With dynamic, on-point production from the likes of Hermitude, Pip Norman and Styalz Fuego, this album finds the incisive rapper more penetrating than ever.

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era.

Tags: Hip-Hop/Rap, 2010s, Album, Elefant Traks


Urthboy has long been an outspoken political voice in Australian hip-hop, but his fifth solo album finds him merging cultural observations with his own personal history. Bittersweet opener “Long Loud Hours” details a famous Sydney prison break over mournful piano, while the fatherhood meditation “Daughter of the Light” and reflective pop of “The Arrow” show Urthboy reminiscing deeply on his roots. With dynamic, on-point production from the likes of Hermitude, Pip Norman and Styalz Fuego, this album finds the incisive rapper more penetrating than ever.

Album: The Signal by Urthboy (2007)
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Record Label: ELEFANT TRAKS
Format: Album

Description: The breakout star of Sydney ensemble The Herd, rapper/producer Urthboy (a.k.a. Tim Levinson) forged his solo career with a canny ear for crossover appeal. His second album, 2007’s The Signal, taps a deep range of collaborators and sounds to reach beyond Aussie hip-hop while still echoing The Herd’s social awareness and polyphonic approach. Guest voices abound, including a who’s who of aughts-era Oz rap in The Tongue, The Herd’s Ozi Batla and members of Koolism and Muph & Plutonic. More telling are counterintuitive cameos from outside of Levinson’s immediate peer group, such as Kamilaroi-Tongan singer Radical Son and Texture Like Sun’s Mark Pearl. Production comes primarily from Hermitude’s El Gusto and TZU’s Count Bounce, with Urthboy co-writing many tracks with Pip Norman (Troye Sivan, Baker Boy). Even with all of that talent assembled, the album is remarkably consistent, flowing from track to track with breezy continuity. Lead single “We Get Around” remains a signature Urthboy cut, with a piano sample that conveys bedroom-pop balladry more than hip-hop swagger. Roots rocker Mia Dyson’s bluesy turn on “Over Before It Began” foreshadows Levinson’s future collabs with indie darlings Bertie Blackman and Josh Pyke, while “Modern Day Folk” acknowledges such cross-genre dabbling with shoutouts to Bob Dylan and A Tribe Called Quest alike. The Signal was followed a year later by an all-star updating of Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly’s 1993 protest song “From Little Things Big Things Grow” by Levinson and others under the name The GetUp Mob. Featuring several of this album’s guests, that hit version led to Levinson working repeatedly with Kelly, a sure sign of mainstream acceptance.

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era.

Tags: Hip-Hop/Rap, 2000s, Album, ELEFANT TRAKS

The breakout star of Sydney ensemble The Herd, rapper/producer Urthboy (a.k.a. Tim Levinson) forged his solo career with a canny ear for crossover appeal. His second album, 2007’s The Signal, taps a deep range of collaborators and sounds to reach beyond Aussie hip-hop while still echoing The Herd’s social awareness and polyphonic approach. Guest voices abound, including a who’s who of aughts-era Oz rap in The Tongue, The Herd’s Ozi Batla and members of Koolism and Muph & Plutonic. More telling are counterintuitive cameos from outside of Levinson’s immediate peer group, such as Kamilaroi-Tongan singer Radical Son and Texture Like Sun’s Mark Pearl. Production comes primarily from Hermitude’s El Gusto and TZU’s Count Bounce, with Urthboy co-writing many tracks with Pip Norman (Troye Sivan, Baker Boy). Even with all of that talent assembled, the album is remarkably consistent, flowing from track to track with breezy continuity. Lead single “We Get Around” remains a signature Urthboy cut, with a piano sample that conveys bedroom-pop balladry more than hip-hop swagger. Roots rocker Mia Dyson’s bluesy turn on “Over Before It Began” foreshadows Levinson’s future collabs with indie darlings Bertie Blackman and Josh Pyke, while “Modern Day Folk” acknowledges such cross-genre dabbling with shoutouts to Bob Dylan and A Tribe Called Quest alike. The Signal was followed a year later by an all-star updating of Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly’s 1993 protest song “From Little Things Big Things Grow” by Levinson and others under the name The GetUp Mob. Featuring several of this album’s guests, that hit version led to Levinson working repeatedly with Kelly, a sure sign of mainstream acceptance.

Album: Spitshine by Urthboy (2009)
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Record Label: ELEFANT TRAKS
Format: Album

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era.

Tags: Hip-Hop/Rap, 2000s, Album, ELEFANT TRAKS


Album: Distant Sense of Random Menace by Urthboy (2004)
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Record Label: ELEFANT TRAKS
Format: Album

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era.

Tags: Hip-Hop/Rap, 2000s, Album, ELEFANT TRAKS


Album: Smokey's Haunt by Urthboy (2012)
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Record Label: ELEFANT TRAKS
Format: Album

Description: By the time of his fourth solo album, Tim Levinson, a.k.a. Urthboy, was flexing a breezy confidence that had very much been earned—not just from his extensive work in live hip-hop ensemble The Herd, but also via collaborations with Aussie pop/rock legends like Paul Kelly. Featuring the quietly inventive production of long-time collaborators El Gusto (Hermitude) and Count Bounce (TZU), 2012’s Smokey’s Haunt continues to broaden Levinson’s sound well beyond hip-hop. Alex Burnett from moody indie-pop act Sparkadia brings lingering poignancy to his guest vocal turn on “The Big Sleep”, inspired by the true story of an elderly Sydney woman whose body wasn’t found until eight years after her death. Likewise, singers Texture Like Sun and Ev Jones slip comfortably into the introspective vibe of the ballad “Calling Cards”, while The Herd’s Jane Tyrrell and Larrakia rapper Jimblah swap verses over wobbly synth tones on the family-inspired “Glimpses”. Flowing from track to track like an expertly curated mixtape, the album courses with Levinson’s articulate energy and varied life experience. Named after a shuttered roller-coaster from his childhood, “Orphan Rocker” meaningfully reflects on the rapper’s music-steeped upbringing in the picturesque Blue Mountains.

Music Scene: Emerged in the classic era.

Tags: Hip-Hop/Rap, 2010s, Album, ELEFANT TRAKS

By the time of his fourth solo album, Tim Levinson, a.k.a. Urthboy, was flexing a breezy confidence that had very much been earned—not just from his extensive work in live hip-hop ensemble The Herd, but also via collaborations with Aussie pop/rock legends like Paul Kelly. Featuring the quietly inventive production of long-time collaborators El Gusto (Hermitude) and Count Bounce (TZU), 2012’s Smokey’s Haunt continues to broaden Levinson’s sound well beyond hip-hop. Alex Burnett from moody indie-pop act Sparkadia brings lingering poignancy to his guest vocal turn on “The Big Sleep”, inspired by the true story of an elderly Sydney woman whose body wasn’t found until eight years after her death. Likewise, singers Texture Like Sun and Ev Jones slip comfortably into the introspective vibe of the ballad “Calling Cards”, while The Herd’s Jane Tyrrell and Larrakia rapper Jimblah swap verses over wobbly synth tones on the family-inspired “Glimpses”. Flowing from track to track like an expertly curated mixtape, the album courses with Levinson’s articulate energy and varied life experience. Named after a shuttered roller-coaster from his childhood, “Orphan Rocker” meaningfully reflects on the rapper’s music-steeped upbringing in the picturesque Blue Mountains.

Urthboy

Biography

Quick Facts

Discography

Links