Australia-by-way-of-Africa hip hop crew Diafrix are set to release their new album, Pocket Full of Dreams this coming September, and in anticipation of this The AU Review got to have a little taste of the slickly produced album.

For starters let’s make it clear that the follow up to their debut, Concrete Jungle, is not your average Aussie hip hop album. Gone are the bogan references and heavy attitude that is the over used stamp usually put on Australian hip hop. In its place are intricate, thoughtful production, thanks to Styals Fuego, M-Phazes, Ptereo Stylus and Wax Motif, which nods at the wide array of influences that Diafrix members Azmarino and Momo have; there’s the 90’s R&B/hip hop flavour of “Throwback” featuring Barry Southgate, the more neo-soul sound of “Better With You” featuring Dwele and the commercial sensibilities of “Radio” with Stan Walker. Judging by the 3 tracks I mentioned, along with “Simple Man” which has already made waves, you’d be wise to guess that the album is full to the brim with collaborations, and where these can sometimes be as tired in hip hop as the afore mentioned bogan attitude, on this album they only add to the dynamics and paint a clear picture of the story being told by Diafrix.

The album presents listeners with a rich and diverse hip hop sound, which might even help shake some of those stigmas about rap in general. Who says that rap can’t be uplifting, thought provoking, entertaining and steer well clear of clichés? Most certainly not Diafrix on A Pocket Full of Dreams.
While you may have to wait until September 28th to get your hands on a copy of the album, you can head over to Diafrix.com to pre-order the album, and have a listen to the latest single from the album “Easy Come, Easy Go” below.