After his steamy Rekorderlig Sauna Sounds performance, Sydney rap sensation B Wise chats about his new LP, and what it means to be “Area Famous.”

When we caught up with South-West Sydney rapper B Wise, it was the evening before his debut LP, Area Famous, was dropping, and it was clear he was ready for the world to see what he’s been working towards. Exuding the smooth confidence that is reflected largely in his music, the wordsmith was comfortable enough to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

“I’m excited, and also anxious as well, but most of all I’m just proud I guess. That’s the word I should say. Proud of what I’ve done with this album, and what I plan to do, and where I plan for it to go,” Wise says.

Having made his Splendour In The Grass debut earlier in the year, amassed millions of Spotify streams, and booked his first national tour, it’s fair to say that he has surpassed being just “Area Famous.” Or, perhaps, the ‘area’ expanded.

“Area Famous basically was a line in a song I did, talking about my experiences, you know, growing up in South Western, Sydney. It was just about being locally known, and having local notoriety for being this rapper, and sort of about being this kind of, I’d like to say, stand up guy,” he says. “The ambition was always that we had just to be known within our postcode.”

Doing his thing in the sauna, as part of the Rekorderlig Sauna Sounds, was a mixture of old and new for Wise – it’s not every day he gets to perform in a wooden box, though he does have some history with the venue, dating way back before he became “Area Famous.”

“It was cool because it was at Whitlam Center, which is where we would always go for sport, school swimming carnivals… and where you’d take a date. You know what I mean. During summer because you didn’t have a pool,” he says. “So it was amazing to go there. I haven’t been there so for so many years, and to do this in the sauna… It was a bit of a vibe. I really enjoyed it.”

You can catch B Wise on his Area Famous national tour (tickets and info here) in October and November, and stay tuned for more from Rekorderlig Sauna Sounds in coming weeks.