Exclusive Album Premiere: Sowdy – Shine! (2020)

Perth emcee Sowdy is steadily building a reputation as one of the most versatile and exciting hip hop artists in the country. Just one listen to his latest single, “Love”, would tell you all you needed to know about the wildly creative rapper, drummer and vocalist, whose love for the art is endearingly obvious.

His local following has been blossoming ever since 2018 debut mixtape Leonidas, and it’s just about time that the rest of the country caught up. Surely they will, given the quality that sits behind Sowdy’s new 15-track album Shine!.

“I feel I’ve found my sound and my purpose”, says Sowdy, who produced, wrote, mixed, and mastered the entire album himself from his home studio. “I hope people can have fun with the album, and relate to it on a deeper level as well.”

Shine! is a self-reflective journey trailing insight into Sowdy as an artist as he examines the tentpoles of life, love, trauma and hope. The sound is youthful and cracks with the energy of an innate talent, one which evidently has no problem combing R&B, Soul, Jazz and Funk and bringing them together with his own richly textured, witty style.

Slightly off-the-wall, consistently funky – it’s one of the finest Australian hip hop releases so far this year, and should easily win the West-Coast artist more than a few new fans.

We’re proud to premiere the entire 15-track album here today so hit the play button below and let it bump from front to back.

If you want to hear more from Sowdy hit him up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Chris Singh

Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.