'Bliss N Eso' Sets the Bar High From the Down Under

Bliss N Eso are a hip-hop group from Australia that has been raising the bar for Aussie hip-hop over the last half decade and can even stand tall over much of U.S. hip-hop at this point. The trio (2 MCs and a DJ) has a discography of all solid rap albums, but it was 2008's Flying Colours that established Bliss N Eso as a household name, winning the group an ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) Music Award for best Urban Release of 2008. Bliss N Eso's follow up to their groundbreaking Flying Colours album is titled Running On Air and it released internationally last Friday, July 30.

At times I think Bliss N Eso offers a bit of a throwback to the days of "thug rap" in the U.S., although content-wise that's not the case at all, but the comparison comes to my mind just for how MC Bliss and MC Esoterik aggressively trade vocals back and forth in a much more traditional and raw way than all the American Top 40 rappers of the moment. Supporting this comparison is the fact that Bliss N Eso's new album features notable American thug rappers RZA (of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan) and Xzibit. However, what gives Bliss N Eso their standout appeal more than their mic skills is their tendency to smoothly implement hooks that cross genres and provide widespread appeal. The first single from 2008's Flying Colours utilized a full Zulu choir singing the chorus to Citizen Cope's hit song "Bullet and a Target" and another song from the album featured Australian soul singer Paris Wells. Better yet, I don't even find those two songs to hold the most widespread appeal from that album, some entirely-Bliss N Eso songs shine even brighter and more creatively:

After reading many positive previews for Running On Air I was expecting basically "Flying Colours 2.0" and was at first a bit disappointed in finding that the amount of songs with catchy cross-genre hooks & choruses has been toned down this time around. That being said, the new album features even more matured rap skills from the two MCs and they remain consistently on point throughout Running On Air. Even though this has won over critics and likely the more hardcore rap fans, I predict for this album to be slightly less received by the mainstream public. Running On Air still does feature a few Flying Colours-esque songs, and you can check those out below.

Overall, if you're a fan of American independent rap, Bliss N Eso should be right up your alley and I recommend starting with 2008's Flying Colours. If you're already a Bliss N Eso fan, Running On Air should at least go down as your second favorite album from the group so far and is available now for purchase from iTunes or wherever else.