One of Australia’s finest wordsmiths, TUKA, returns with his first solo material in 4 years, dropping new track and video, ‘F*ck You Pay Me’.
In ‘F*ck You Pay Me’, white hot bars are peppered through a mind-boggling take on UK grime tropes, all seen through the eyes of an up-close and personal video. And if that’s not enough to get your blood pumping – Tuka also unveils a national tour through November, heading everywhere from Newcastle to Perth, Canberra to Hobart and various points in between!
Friday Nov 1 – Newcastle, The Cambridge
Saturday Nov 2 – Blue Mountains, Baroque House
Friday Nov 8 – Adelaide, Fat Controller
Friday Nov 15 – Perth, Jack Rabbit Slims
Saturday Nov 16 – Melbourne, Howler
Friday Nov 22 – Brisbane, Foundry
Saturday Nov 23 – Sydney, Lansdowne
Friday Nov 29 – Canberra, UC Hub
Saturday Nov 30 – Hobart, Republic Bar
Discussing his new music, Tuka says, “’F*ck You Pay Me’ is a playful song about my relationship with money as an artist in the rap/hip hop industry. I’m basically taking the piss out of myself, I’ve always been unsettled by the need or want for money in others, it’s never been my drive so I couldn’t relate. I’ve always enjoyed creating art for art sake and working out how to “sell it” later. The idea for this song has been floating around my head for years but because I don’t align with the “get money” lifestyle I never got around to actually seeing it through and writing the song till recently. I guess because I’ve managed to somehow stay relevant in the Australian hip hop industry for so long I’m comfortable bragging a bit, carving a career out of Oz rap is a pretty surreal reality if you ask me? Especially if you had asked me 10 years ago when I started, it wasn’t really an option back then. My mum was supportive so that was nice lol.
“TBH though, this song was really an excuse to rap. Over the last few years I’ve been shying away from writing “bars” and focused more of the craft of song writing more holistically. However my song writing is more often than not passive and relaxed. I wanted to channel the aggression/ desperation that I see money bring out in our society. I think people feel trapped by not having money and wanted to write an anthem to empower them. Also, I’ve really been inspired by the next generation of Australian rappers that are paving the way for the culture in terms for raw skill and delivery, pushing wordplay and lyricism to the forefront, it’s really refreshing and it made me want to flex my roots in rap again but also challenge myself over something more current. I really love a lot of the UK grime music, have for a long time. I knew if I was going to get the hook to work/ become memorable it would have to be on some grime-esk style banger, it’s how I always pictured it in my head… I did my own flip on grime in a lot of ways.
“JONCE (producer for Oneday, Left, Horrorshow and more) and myself went in over about two or three days and wrote the beat, I love working with him. But don’t think about it too much haha, I really don’t take this song too seriously. I hope you enjoy it.”
Tuka is Australia’s shining light on the hip / hop scene – a gifted poet who passionately supports women’s rights and animal rights, and campaigns tirelessly for those marginalised in the community. Testament to his massive appeal, Tuka has charted in triple j’s Hottest 100 a massive 7 times, and his last solo album Life Death Time Eternal debuted at #6 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
In between writing music and supporting the causes that he feels so strongly about, Tuka indulges in a number of guilty pleasures! A skateboarding fanatic, he’s currently obsessed with SLS, and is happy to spend hours playing Zelda on Nintendo Switch!
Tuka will hit the road this November to unveil ‘F*ck You Pay Me’ live for the first time along with a whole swag of fan favourites.