Matt Xander's Fornicating Arachnids EP

Now, Matt Xander has a problem. Not a whole heap of people inside Oz hip-hop take him seriously, and that’s a mistake. Granted, due to his comedic style and not so severe nature he is a product of his own creation. However, his new EP Fornicating Arachnids should be noticed, as this EP brings the fun back into hip-hop. For far too long, especially in Sydney, too many MC's have tried to politicise their artistry. Now, whilst some things need to be said, there’s too many artists polluting the pond, killing any message they hope to put out. It’s a bit like Julia Gillard and Malcolm Turnbull’s Prime ministerships, where despite what they accomplished, people stopped listening to them and were just waiting for the next election to vote them out. The same thing is happening in Oz Hip-hop right now, particularly in Sydney. There are so many MC's saying the same thing that a lot of non-political fans of hiphop are like “CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP WITH YOUR SELF RIGTHERNOUSNESS?”. In fact, even some ‘Lad Rappers’ are trying to cash in on conscious hip-hop and it’s a contradictary position to have. This is where Matt Xander is different. His music is fun and different and engages you to listen. The sounds, the artwork doesn’t even make you think your listening to an important political message but you are. Tracks like Gonads which happens to be one of my favourites off the EP poses an important question to world leaders. It asks ‘which one of you has the balls to make peace before declaring war and why is declaring war so much easier then coexisting?’

Fornicating Arachnids takes you on a journey through the comical genius of Matt Xander, and I think it’s his crowning achievement. While the main single off the EP ‘Scrapping the Barrel’goes out of its way not to single out any one political ideology, socialist or conservative it really is a professional package. This is the difference between Matt Xander and some other MCs in Sydney. Now, I know Matt is somewhat left-wing and that’s ok, he’s entitled to his point of view and that is the beauty of this work. Despite me not agreeing personally with leftwing politics, I can listen, have a laugh pat him on the back and say “good job”. He doesn’t single out anybody out or cause friction, and most importantly he doesn’t take a morally superior position on any view he holds, he leaves himself vulnerable to the idea he might be wrong. Matt also asks the questions that everyone is thinking from every walk of life and is too scared to ask. This is what makes him different from other MCs in Sydney trying to politicise their artistry with views that are absolute. Don’t take my word on it, go do yourself a favour, google Matt Xander, go check out this EP ‘Fornicating Arachnids’, buy a physical copy and make your own mind up.