Words by Declan Whelan // Image by Tony Pillow

A double premiere for an artist capping off a breathless week in the booth. 

Fresh from the Triple J studio where he dropped his bars of steel yesterday, T$oko is back with new heat, releasing his latest single ‘Ben Simmons’ alongside sun soaked visuals for his ‘Hitachi’ remix of Bas and J.Cole’s summer smash ‘Tribe’. There’s a lot to get through here so we’ll start at the top.

It’s been a busy couple of months for T$oko, who as well as releasing music with his Tone Youth collective (including this laid-back West Coast movie shot in the picturesque streets of Fremantle), has been gearing up for the release of his new solo EP. ‘Ben Simmons’ is the first single to drop from the forthcoming project, on which T$oko says, “It’s just a fun track celebrating my recent accomplishments and showing what I have in store for the world, musically. I feel like Ben has done pretty well for himself from being a college basketball player, being injured in the first season, recovering, and now being a valuable player in the NBA up to this point.” There’s a likeness between the two in that sense, a comparison which shines as T$oko raps about overcoming challenges before getting an early taste of success. “Shoutout to immigration, I was in a situation now I’m elevated.” 

As promised, we also have an exclusive early look at T$oko’s spin on Bas & J.Cole’s collaborative burner ‘Tribe’, on which the Perth rapper flexes his lyrical dexterity and pays homage to prominent members of the Australian hip hop community past and present. Aesthetically, it’s a carbon copy of the Dreamville original seasoned with vibrant Australian imagery. Check it out below and stay tuned for more goodness on the way from T$oko: