Words by Christopher Kevin Au // Image by @len0ir //
Since relocating to Australia from London, Fraksha has pioneered the local grime scene, and he’s largely responsible for the flurry of local emcees spitting over rapid UK beats.
From the Grime Down Under mixtapes to Fully Gassed and 50/50 gigs, Fraksha has played in a crucial hand in Australian grime. That makes it all the more surprising that he’s chosen to step away from the sound on his latest Still Out Here EP, which has just dropped today via Broken Tooth Entertainment. “I suppose it’s kinda weird that I’m releasing an EP with no grime on it, at a time when grime is at its biggest here,” Fraksha says. “But it wasn’t a conscious decision to do it like that really.”
Opening the five-track EP is the moody single ‘Out Here,’ a single which he says “wouldn’t have sat right alongside straight grime.” The track and its accompanying video (premiering right here, right now) pays homage to Fraksha’s late friend and Smash Brothers colleague Murky, with a video that also unites Melbourne’s underground scene in his honour.
“It’s been a tough past year with losing our friend and crew member Murky, and this song really only came about after his passing,” he says. “As soon as I heard the beat, it grabbed me straight away and then the producer Kharni told me it had been originally been for Murky, but he hadn’t got a chance to record on it before he passed – so that just cemented it.”
‘Out Here’ is a defiant track that sees Fraksha rhyme over pensive production, also featuring guest verses from fellow Smash Brothers members Scotty Hinds and Diem (you can also see all three in action in the Fully Gassed cypher), while you can catch like-minded artists including Alex Jones, Tornts and Posseshot in the video clip.
And while ‘Out Here’ brings forth the pain of losing loved ones, it also cements the idea of standing tall and looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. “Since the filming of the video, Kerbstomp (who features in the video) also passed away sadly, so there’s definitely mixed feelings in watching back for me,” he says. “But I hope people come away from it with a positive feeling as that’s been my aim with the track.”
Watch ‘Out Here’ and find Fraksha’s latest Still Out Here EP below:
