Image via Billy Zammit //

Already keen for Volume 2…

Inner west hip hop outfit Triple One have been making waves in the local scene for years on end now, their unbridled measures of intensity, vulnerability and youthfulness resonating with the masses at home and abroad. It’s that raw intensity that emanates from just being totally pissed off at the world, a sentiment we’ve all felt at one time or another. But despite the last couple of years and all they’ve been through as a group and individuals, Triple One are moving past that emotion. Or rather, channelling it into their art. The result? Their latest mixtape A Dangerous Method Vol. 1. 

Their latest offering A Dangerous Method Vol. 1 is Triple One at their most lethal. Hip hop, drum and bass, dance, punk and more, the genre-bending four-piece remind us there’s no avenue of the musical sphere they won’t venture to. And tying it altogether are plenty of cinematic visuals that prove the inner west larrikins are a true one stop shop for all things creativity. From the abrasive ‘GUNSHOW’ to the soothing ‘COME OVER’ and the cheeky ’10 DOLLAR SWIM’, the boys have served up one of their most dynamic projects yet on A Dangerous Method, and have set the bar rather high for themselves for Vol. 2.

We caught up with Lil Dijon and Obi Ill from the group to get the drop on the new mixtape, Guy Sebastian and what lies in store on Volume Two. Check it below.

After listening to this record, I get the vibe you guys are at your most creative and inspired right now. Is that accurate?

Lil Dijon: We made most of this music a while back and some of it during lockdown last year, so we had nothing else to do but to try to be creative. So yeah, it was a good outlet.

Obi Ill: We’ve been on a couple writing trips over the past two years now. So most of the music was recorded while we were away in Collaroy. We were recording in Guy Sebastian’s old house, which is pretty funny. We made 10 or 12 tracks there and I think four or five of them came to be on the tape. So, we had a beach view and got down for about a week and just fully launched ourselves into the creative process. It was good fun!

Are there any Guy Sebastian Easter eggs on ‘A Dangerous Method’?

Obi Ill: No, definitely not. Not anything against Sebastian, but no. No Guy Sebastian features yet, open to it though!

Hip hop, punk, drum and bass, the list goes on. ‘A Dangerous Method’ touches on it all and more over its tracklisting. Were you just being pulled in 100 genres throughout the making of this record?

Lil Dijon: We just trusted in our ability to make whatever we want. It’s not like we had all of the ideas in mind, we just did what felt natural for us because some of the other tracks, like the DNB records and so on, really opened our minds into what can be created. And then we started to venture into those genres a bit.

Obi Ill: Yeah, it was good fun. And we were working with a lot more producers this time around. Like we got Reuben Styles from Peking Duk on ‘GUNSHOW’, for example, whereas previously we were making a lot of our music from scratch. Billy would just create the beat or come in with a reference and we’d try to make something out of that.

Lil Dijon: Yeah, he’d be the sole creator. But this time around we had a lot more helping hands to help with ideas.

How did that collaborative energy help ease the flow of the creation of the project? Did it speed things up or take you in new directions?

Lil Dijon: Both I reckon. It’s really interesting working with new people after you’ve done everything in-house for so long. Like when you meet new people, it’s like, “I wonder what they can bring the table.” But it opens you up to a lot more. You’re able to create something new and different, or something that you thought you’d never make before.

Obi Ill: It’s faster as well. You’ll have an idea that you can shuffle through or just have a bunch of samples or loops. And then you have like two other people that are still making those sounds or making different sounds and just cycle through, which allows you to be more selective with what you like.

Lil Dijon: It’s also a bit more exciting working with new people. There are just different energies in the room.

Were there any stories that came out of being in the studio with all of those new collaborators that stood out to you?

Obi Ill: One of the tracks on the project is called ‘10 DOLLAR SWIM’. And it’s with 18 YO MAN, who we’ve been working with for a while now and he’s done some fucking shit. But he was away for, I don’t know, three or four of the days and we got a track called ‘10 DOLLAR SWIM’ with him that we cut from a sample of his. And it ended up being that he wouldn’t swim for $10. He hates swimming, but he’d only swim for love. And that was one of the fucking funniest stories that came out in the studio. But apart from that, we’re just drinking beers and making music. But when he’d come over-

Lil Dijon: We’d really put our heads down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvxnsIt-juE

I read that you made so much music in lockdown that you had to split ‘A Dangerous Method’ into two tapes. Is there a main difference between the first and second volumes?

Lil Dijon: I’d say this first volume is a bit more high energy. You’ll find it has a lot more hard raps and beats, and is just a lot more bouncier. But it does have a couple slower songs in there to ease it out as well.

Obi Ill: A couple of pop bangers.

Lil Dijon: Yeah, pop bangers. And then the second volume.. I don’t know if should say [laughs]. Maybe you should just wait and see.

Obi Ill: Unreleased information.

Lil Dijon: Unreleased information, but let’s just say it does take a different route.

Obi Ill: The second one’s a fucking noise tape and there’s no rapping on it. It’s just fucking us being crazy.

Lil Dijon: Blank noise every track.

Well, if you can’t give us too much, could you give us a one-word teaser for the next volume?

Lil Dijon: It touches you. No, don’t use that. Don’t say that.

Obi Ill: Intrusive.

Lil Dijon: Its just a different vibe.

Obi Ill: Warm. It’s fucking warm.

Lil Dijon: It’s very warm.

Digging into the track listing now, you start with ‘GUNSHOW’, which is one of your most high-octane tracks yet and sets the tone nicely for the project. Was the intention with that track to let us know what we’re in for? To hit us hard and fast?

Lil Dijon: I always wanted to release that one as the first track, because it does set the tone for the tape. I feel that’s important when you’re bringing out your own music, so people can gain an understanding straight away, instead of just releasing something that’s similar to what you’ve released before. And then all of a sudden, there’s one track that makes you go “Oh, what the hell?”

Obi Ill: Yeah, it changes your mind state and it makes you excited.

Lil Dijon: Yeah, opens you up.

Obi Ill: It’s like a teaser trailer for the fucking rest of the tape, which is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6S6o-Vf8Tw

The record really diverges following ‘GUNSHOW’. But there’s a cool throughline of intensity that’s very tangible throughout. Are there any other commonalities you were trying to embed throughout the tracklisting?

Lil Dijon: There are a lot of dancier tracks, like you got ‘BLOOD RAVE’ and then you’ve got ‘NEON DREAMBOAT’, and then ‘GUNSHOW’, and a couple more like that. But we still wanted to hold a bit of our own essence within it as well, which is important to us. So, like the original Triple One, but still veering off to the side on songs like ‘GHOSTS’.

Obi Ill: Like we’ll make it hard, but we’re not trying to rip your fucking soul out. It’s not depressingly hard, there’s still happiness throughout it. It’s a good reflection of life. Just in terms of being like “yeah, there is hard shit, but then there’s also happier music, good stuff as well that you can enjoy”.

Lil Dijon: It takes you on journey.

Obi Ill: Yeah. It doesn’t have to just be a solo listen that just tears your brain out. It can be happy and it can have little moments.

When did you guys have that realisation, or is that always something you guys have known?

Lil Dijon: I never really thought about that. I guess parts of it are new but at the same time we’ve always tried to do that. It’s always about trying to find something new. You can always stick to the old stuff, but I always want to bring something new to the table, which makes it interesting, not only for me, but for others as well.

Obi Ill: I think it’s about maturity as well. As you get older, you want to do different shit. Like when we were all younger artists, we just wanted to release this thrasher emo shit. But now we’re in our mid-20s, we’re like, “I’m not that fucking angry anymore.” I don’t want to make super fucking tongue in cheek, pissed off shit now. I’m not that fucking pissed off at the world anymore.

Lil Dijon: I’m still pissed off at the world.

There’s also a lot of emotion injected throughout, especially in ‘GHOST’ and ‘SHORELINE SUPERSTAR’. Where were you guys at mentally going into this record? 

Lil Dijon: Definitely, there’s always emotion involved in every track, I feel. And I feel, especially with what was happening during lockdown, it’s been good to be able to release these tracks to convey how we were feeling throughout that whole journey of COVID. It’s coming to an end now, but it’s a good journal with these two parts, of what we’ve experienced through these past three years. And hopefully the songs can also help other people gain an added understanding of what they’ve experienced during COVID as well.

Obi Ill: You also feel a bit robbed at the end of the day as an artist or a musician. You’re on this trajectory and you’re going to play all these festivals and then it’s like three years out of your prime time that you’re not going to get back. But it’s about coming to an understanding with that and also not dwelling on it too much and just accepting it and then being like, “Oh, well you have to do this now.” Like I don’t think it was fucking that bad. The first year was fucking shit, don’t get me wrong, but then you accept it and you’re like, “This is actually happening.”

Obi Ill: So yeah, it’s the thought process behind it, just in terms of having an obstacle in the way of what you want to achieve and then moving through it. I don’t think the whole record as a whole ends up too sad, but you definitely have some of those sadder songs, where you dig a bit deeper into yourself.

Lil Dijon: There’s also a bit of anger involved as well, I feel, inside of it. Not only sadness, varying emotions.

Obi Ill: Varying emotions, an emotional fucking rollercoaster.

That sentiment of feeling robbed is definitely one we can all relate to. Through the past three years, how did you guys lean on each other and tackle those challenges together? 

Lil Dijon: Not easily, but we definitely did tackle through it. I’m not going to say it was a walk in the park. It was hard to gain motivation to be able to do stuff.

Obi Ill: Yeah, motivation was a big one.

Lil Dijon: But then you just fucking pick yourself up, and say to yourself, “Okay, we’ve got to do this. Just use the time wisely. Let’s make tracks. Let’s produce a bit more.” Obviously, production is the main forefront during COVID because you can’t do anything else. So it was just about trying to find that focus and have it in mind the whole time and not get disheartened.

Obi Ill: We learned that when we released our first album during the middle of lockdown and we couldn’t tour it for a year-and-a-half. So after that, we were all just like, “What the fuck is the point of releasing, if we can’t tour?” So that was a massive learning curve for us, which I don’t think we’ll fucking do again. But it makes you rethink stuff like strategies and business plans and just stuff beyond the music. Because I feel like when you do all of that side of the business, it ticks over. And when it’s good, it’s good.

Obi Ill: But when it starts to slow down, you really have to rethink your model and what you’re doing it for. And you have to look inside yourself and be like, “What do I gain out of this?” What music do I want to produce?”

You finish with ‘COME OVER’, which is a standout single of yours. What’s the story behind that track and music video?

Lil Dijon: The video is a bit of satire. It’s supposed to be like the classic rap video, but everyone’s really sad and dull in it. I just thought it’d be funny. It was actually a pretty fun video to do. Like you’ve got all the funny U.S. rap cliches like the car, money, the chicks and so on. But it’s just like we’re not having a good time around it.

Obi Ill: It’s a load of shit, mate.

Lil Dijon: Yeah, and it’s just us saying that “it’s all bullshit”. And I feel like it was funny connecting it to that song, which isn’t a very hyper rap song.

Obi Ill: A bit of a melodic. It’s more anti. I think like the lyrics in that as well definitely delve into more personal feelings and beliefs. We made that one with Matt Mason who came up with the hook line on the melody. And it’s like you just get put into a world with a lot of vices and temptation. And it’s just about trying to navigate that for your own happiness and truth versus, “This is what you’re meant to do and this is how you’re meant to feel.”

Obi Ill: And it’s like, “Oh yeah, just have a big fucking party.” But at the end of the party, you end up feeling pretty shit. You can’t just party the whole time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9rI7OFMEao

You guys have really doubled own on your visuals and have created a cinematic universe of sorts. In terms of the visual aspect of Triple One, what are you guys trying to achieve? And what do you think represents you right now?

Obi Ill: Just world building.

Lil Dijon: Yeah, there’s no specific tone. It’s just finding out what fits best with each song and how we can connect it. But the visual aspect is always an interesting one because it’s just what’s the most out there of each song. But it’s just what feels best. And that generally works for us.

Obi Ill: I feel like it’s exciting pushing yourself into different avenues as well, instead of just-

Lil Dijon: Sticking to the one visual lane.

Obi Ill: Yeah, one visual lane. You start to get a bit lost. I think because there’s four of us in the group as well, we’ve got four personal styles, or distinct styles. It’s hard to pinpoint. We don’t want to force us to all sit down and have this regimented look and feel when you can just jump around and move around. I feel like a lot of pop artists and shit do that now, and it’s cohesive and understandable. I just think it gets lost in the world we live in or like the hip-hop fucking umbrella in Australia, where it’s very one-minded or one-lane. It’s like, “Oh, this is fucking exactly the same thing as the other dude’s doing,” constantly, and it’s just frustrating. We just throw everything at people and then-

Lil Dijon: See what happens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM1AUSKMhF8

You’ve said that “We never want to be defined by a single sound or trend. We want our music to last forever”. If there’s one track out of this project that you’d want to last through the ages, what would it be, and why?

Obi Ill: I like ‘COME OVER’. It’s just a fucking classic. I feel I could’ve listened to ‘COME OVER’ 15 years ago and I would think it’s sick.

Lil Dijon: I’m going to give you two, is that all right?

Obi Ill: All of them, bro.

Lil Dijon: First would be ‘GUNSHOW’. I think that’s the most out there song we’ve made recently, and I really like the lane we’ve taken with that song. It’s a bit heavier and it still holds that deep emotion to it as well. And then ‘GHOST’. That one is just a personal one to me. It also holds a very old Triple One sound, but it’s done in a new way as well. So it’s still very much us.

Triple One’s new mixtape A Dangerous Method Vol One is out now. You can buy/stream it here.