Hilltop Hoods

1997–2001: Formation and early years Two of Hilltop Hoods' founders first met in early 1990s when MC Suffa (aka Matthew David Lambert) and Pressure (Daniel Howe Smith) attended Blackwood High School in Eden Hills – a suburb of Adelaide. In 1996 they joined up with DJ Next (Ben John Hare) through a mutual friend and formed an Australian hip hop group. Fifth track, "Mankind Must Suffa" also features a guest verse from Quromystix (aka Quro, Andrew Michael Bradley) – a member of Finger Lickin' Good and later the Fuglemen. "Mankind Must Suffa" is credited to Lambert, Smith, Francis and Bradley. Back Once Again is out of print and unavailable for retail purchase. The group's debut studio album, A Matter of Time, was released in 1999 on CD only. As with Back Once Again, it is now unavailable for retail purchase. All scratching/turntablism is performed by DJ Next, a track, "Let Me Show You", has no vocals – solely showcasing his turntable skills. American MC Bukue One (Tion Torrence) appears for a guest verse on "Deaf Can Hear". The track is credited to Lambert, Smith, Francis, Hare and Torrence. The album was released independently but with financial assistance from Arts SA – the band were inspired, in 2005, to set up their own Hilltop Hoods Initiative, to help local artists. After the album appeared, DJ Next left the group and moved to Melbourne. In 2004 he moved to London. In 1999 Debris, who was also a member of the Cross Bred Mongrels, replaced Next and became the Hilltop Hoods' full-time DJ. Hilltop Hoods founded the Certified Wise Crew – a hip-hop collaborative – with local groups Terra Firma, Cross Bred Mongrels and After Hours. Certified Wise Crew has since expanded to include MCs Trauma, Blockade, Kolaps, Flea, with Vents and Funkoars joining in later years. Hilltop Hoods received two nominations for the Hip Hop Act of the Year Award at the Australian Dance Music Awards and again at the 3D World Music Awards in 2001 and 2002. In 2001 the group's second album, Left Foot, Right Foot, was released with Lambert, Francis and M. Veraquth producing. 2003–2007: The Calling and The Hard Road On 22 September 2003, Hilltop Hoods released their third album, The Calling, which became a commercial breakthrough. In an interview after the release of their fourth album, Suffa revealed that The Calling was recorded on his mother's computer and the simplicity of their 'studio' is the reason why some of the music on the album is in monaural ('mono') sound. The Calling entered the ARIA Albums Chart in March 2004 and reached No. 53 before exiting the top 100 in September of the same year. By December 2006 it was certified platinum for shipment of 70,000 units, becoming the first Australian hip hop album to achieve platinum status. In March 2012, it re-entered the chart and peaked at No. 50 – eight-and-a-half years after its first release. It featured two singles, "The Nosebleed Section" and "Dumb Enough", which were listed in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2003. Furthermore, "The Nosebleed Section" was ranked No. 17 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009 and No. 2 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs. Hilltop Hoods' chart and commercial success was a turning point in the Australian Hip Hop scene because it demonstrated widespread support for the genre that reached beyond an underground fan base. On 1 April 2006, the group followed with their fourth album, The Hard Road, which peaked at No. 1. The Hilltop Hoods received the inaugural Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for Independent Artist of the Year and Best Performing Independent Album for The Hard Road in 2006. The track, "The Blue Blooded", is a collaboration with Australian MCs: Funkoars, Hau from Koolism, Mortar, Vents, Drapht, Muph & Plutonic, Pegz and Robby Balboa. They performed the Homebake Festival and Falls Festival before the end of the year. The Hard Road received the AIR Award for Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Release in 2007. The album was released on 12 June, with the lead single, "Chase That Feeling", issued as a digital download on 8 May, and featured a return guest appearance by a quartet from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. The album debuted at number one on the albums chart while "Chase That Feeling" peaked at No. 8 on the related singles chart. In early 2009 the Hilltop Hoods performed at the Groovin the Moo festival in Townsville, Maitland and Bendigo. They also performed at Triple J's One Night Stand in Sale, Victoria on 30 May, and at Fat as Butter festival in Newcastle on 25 October where they played several of the tracks from the album. To promote its release the band started a national tour starting on 18 July and performed at most major cities including state capitals. The second national tour that year followed on 11 November with support provided by Vents. 2010–2017: Drinking from the Sun and Walking Under Stars On 28 July 2010, Hilltop Hoods completed work on a zombie movie, Parade of the Dead. It was co-written by Coburn, Scott Dooley, and Matt Lambert, and is over an hour long. Using the title from a State of the Art track, it was released on 22 October with the eponymous single. In late November 2011, the band premiered the single, "I Love It", on the Triple J breakfast show. Featuring Sia, the song peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA chart During December 2011, they supported Eminem and Lil Wayne during the Australian leg of Eminem's world tour. The song has since been certified 4× Platinum by ARIA, denoting sales of more than 280,000 units. Three music videos for "I Love It" were published online in December 2011 by DJ Debris. Three versions were commissioned by the band, involving three different directors: Nash Edgerton of Blue Tongue Films; the Animal Logic animation company; and independent Melbourne, Australia, film-maker Carl Allison. "Rattling the Keys to the Kingdom" was certified Gold by ARIA in 2018. Drinking from the Sun became their third number-one album in Australia and also charted on the New Zealand Albums Chart top 40. In mid-April 2012, the music video for "Speaking in Tongues", the album's second single, was published online. Directed by Toby Grimes, the video features Chali 2na and graffiti murals from Brisbane, Australia, artist Sofles. On 10 May 2012, Hilltop Hoods issued a new EP, The Good Life in the Sun, to celebrate the launch of the 'Speaking in Tongues Tour', which includes tracks from Drinking from the Sun remixed by Suffa. The post contained a link to their website where the EP can be downloaded for free. In July 2012, the video for the third single, "Shredding the Balloon", was published on the band's YouTube channel. Directed by Selina Miles of Unity Sound and Visual, the video had received nearly 1.5 million views as of 1 October 2014. The single was released on 20 July 2012. In August 2012, Triple J uploaded video footage of the group's tribute to Beastie Boys' member Adam "MCA" Yauch, who died in May 2012. The group selected "So What'cha Want" from Beastie Boys' album Check Your Head. In late September, the music video for "Rattling the Keys to the Kingdom" was published online. It featured numerous Australian hip-hop artists, including Drapht, Urthboy, Def Wish Cast, Dazastah, Layla, Maya Jupiter and Hunter. The band explained in the production notes for the video: Not only did we want to do something unifying, we also wanted to use the platform we have to promote artists that we think deserve more exposure. Of course, not everyone involved in the filmclip needs exposure, as many of the artists involved have huge followings in their own right. But having these artists involved in the filmclip just further serves to unify and consolidate the scene ... We need to point out that this is by no means a representation of every relevant artist involved in the culture past or present. It's more a cross-section of who we have contact with, who was available and so on. In November 2012, Hilltop Hoods performed a live show on UStream and announced that the title of the group's next album would be Walking Under Stars—this was then confirmed on the official Hilltop Hoods Twitter and Facebook pages, following their Best Urban Album win at the 2012 ARIA Awards ceremony. The band's Facebook post read: So it's now one year to the day since we dropped 'I Love It' and started the 'Drinking from the Sun' journey. Thanks to everyone that's supported us over the last 12 months, it's been amazing. We hope you join us late next year for 'Walking Under Stars'. Thankyou, Suffa, Pressure & Debris The announcement corresponds with a sample on Drinking from the Sun that refers to a band writing with the clear intention of formulating enough material for two albums: "They were recording enough for two albums; that was premeditated." The sample appears on the track, "The Thirst Pt. 3 (Interlude)". In April 2013, the Hilltop Hoods stated that the development of Walking Under Stars was "well underway", with the trio calling the album Drinking from the Sun "part two"—the latter received a double platinum sales certification in the same month. Additionally, American clothing company Zoo York announced a partnership with the Hilltop Hoods in April 2013, in preparation for the brand's 20th-anniversary celebrations in 2014. Lambert explained: "We've always been fans of Zoo York, they understand hip hop culture, and that's why we can't wait to work with them." On 21 June 2014—after the band successfully received the 20,000 likes they requested for a Facebook post—the first preview of Walking Under Stars, titled "The Art of the Handshake", was uploaded to the band's SoundCloud profile—the song is the fourth on the album's track-list. Lambert revealed on 6 August that the song was inspired by the Notes to Self song "All of the Above", which reminded him of "the ridiculous handshakes" of his youth. As part of the songwriting process, Lambert spent a day researching the status of the handshake in countries such as Sweden and India. Lambert exclaimed to the audience prior to the song "Speaking in Tongues", from the Drinking from the Sun album: The Hilltop Hoods do not give a fuck what race you are! The Hilltop Hoods do not give a fuck what religion you are! The Hilltop Hoods do not give a fuck what sex you are! The Hilltop Hoods do not give a fuck what sexuality you are! We are one people under the music! Lambert explained that his announcement, a reaffirmation of the sentiment in "Speaking in Tongues", is "very important" to the band. Similar to the band's previous album releases, numerous collaborators appear on Walking Under Stars. Lambert explained on 5 August that "we [Hilltop Hoods] try to do it in the same room" when guest artists record and, for the seventh studio album, the band worked with Sabre, New Zealand soul singer Aaradhna, Brother Ali, Dan Sultan, Drapht, Canadian voice-over artist Dave Pettitt and One Above, the Adelaide producer who also worked on Drinking from the Sun. Lambert explained to The Music magazine that Sultan is a "gifted" artist who the band loves "as a person as well", and "it was really good to work with [Brother] Ali, who's an artist that we admire so much." During the promotion for a national Australian tour in late August 2014, the band revealed that a secret release will "manifest itself" in 2015 and will be the culmination of a multi-album creative project that began with Drinking From The Sun. The music video for "Won't Let You Down" was published on the Hilltop Hoods YouTube channel on 19 August 2014. Directed by Richard Coburn of the Kojo production company, the video features a narrative in which manufactured pigs heads are used. The music video for the "Cosby Sweater" single was released on the Hilltop Hoods YouTube channel while the group was engaged in the third stage of their 2014 world tour in North America. Published on 15 September, the video was again directed by Coburn and also features Golden Era artists Briggs, K21 and Trials. The single became the group's first top 5 ARIA single on 15 November 2014, during the fourth, Australian stage of the world tour, on the same date as the group's Melbourne performance at the Rod Laver Arena. "Cosby Sweater" was also performed at the 28th ARIA Awards ceremony on 26 November 2014, where the band also won the Best Urban Album award. On 30 April 2016, Hilltop Hoods performed their final concert of the 'Drinking from the Sun, Walking Under the Stars' at Perth Arena. 2018–2024: The Great Expanse On 13 July 2018, Hilltop Hoods released single "Clark Griswold" with Adrian Eagle, an ode to the character from the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' movies. On 23 November 2018, Hilltop Hoods released the single "Leave Me Lonely" and announced their forthcoming 2019 album The Great Expanse. The album, which features platinum single "Leave Me Lonely," gold selling ARIA Award-winning single "Clark Griswold" ft. Adrian Eagle, and new single "Exit Sign" ft. Illy and Ecca Vandal, was released on 22 February 2019 and debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Charts. The chart debut made it the group's sixth number one, setting a new ARIA record for most No. 1 Albums by an Australian band or group. On 17 March 2022, the Hilltop Hoods released a new single with US soul singer Eamon titled "Show Business". On 15 May 2022, Hilltop Hoods celebrated the 15th anniversary of The Hard Road Restrung with a post on their official Facebook & Instagram pages, and announced they were working on a third installment in their 'restrung' releases, following The Hard Road Restrung (2007) and Drinking from the Sun and Walking Under Stars Restrung (2016). Accompanying photos of both of their previous restrung album covers, was an image containing songs for the third installment, which suggests the new restrung album will be "The Great Expanse Restrung". The post clarified that the album "won't be out anytime soon". On 25 August 2022, Hilltop Hoods reunited with Montaigne and Tom Thum and released the song "A Whole Day's Night". 2025-present: Fall from the Light On 15 June 2023, the Hilltop Hoods released the single "Laced Up". In December 2023, Hilltop Hoods released an Instagram post promising a new album would be released in 2024. However, they failed to fulfill this promise, stating in December 2024 that the album was "nearly there" and uploading an image implying a 2025 release date. On 6 February 2025, Hilltop Hoods released their new single "The Gift", featuring Marlon. On the same day, they announced on their Instagram that the next album would release in 2025 and described "The Gift" as the cornerstone of the new album. On 28 May 2025, the band announced the release of their 9th studio album, Fall from the Light, on 1 August 2025. Suffa, Pressure, and DJ Debris recorded the album in Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, and New Zealand. The album has 12 tracks, and features Adelaide pop artist Nyassa and New Zealand pop band Six60. Another track, "Don't Happy, Be Worry", was released ahead of the album. ==Touring==

Hilltop Hoods have toured both in Australia and overseas, including playing at music festivals: T in the Park, Oxegen, the Big Day Out, Adelaide 500, Southbound, The Great Escape, Splendour in the Grass, Bassinthegrass, Groovin' The Moo, Falls Festival, Pyramid Rock Festival, Rollercoaster, Come Together Festival and Make Poverty History. On 8 December 2012, the Hilltop Hoods were one of two headlines acts (the other was American band, Blondie) for the 2012 "Global Edition" of the popular Australian music, film, comedy and arts festival, Homebake. A North American "Drinking From The Sun" tour was announced in late February 2013 and the band revealed that it would perform in American cities such as Seattle (the tour's debut location), New York and San Francisco, and the Canadian cities, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Toronto; the tour was scheduled to end in Los Angeles on 9 May 2013. However, on 23 February 2013, the hip hop group announced the indefinite postponement of the entire tour due to a "serious family matter". The Hilltop Hoods were also one of the bands on the "Concerts" roster for the V8 Clipsal 500 Adelaide car racing event, held between 28 February 2013 and 3 March 2013—other Australian hip hop artists, such as Drapht and Vents, also performed at the event. The group performed at the 2014 occurrence of the Australian festival Splendour in the Grass, performing alongside other musicians, such as Illy, Outkast, and Lily Allen. The band announced an August–September 2014 North American tour in June 2014—including dates in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, and San Francisco, US—with Minnesota, US, artist Sims, from Doomtree. In late August 2014, the "Cosby Sweater Australian Tour" was announced in support of the Walking Under Stars album release. The domestic tour run from October to December 2014, and the support acts were Thundamentals and K21. Their latest national tour was in 2016. This was the "Drinking from the sun and Walking Under Stars Australian Sympthony Orchestra tour" This was the tour that followed the release of the new album which was the 2 most recent albums remastered using the orchestra. In February 2019, the group supported Eminem's concert tour around Australia and New Zealand, performing to audiences in venues such as ANZ Stadium in Sydney and the MCG in Melbourne. Hilltop Hoods undertook a national tour in late 2022, commencing in Brisbane on 27 August, with performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and concluding in Adelaide. A further tour of New Zealand was undertaken in September 2023. ==Members==

Current members • Suffa (Matthew David Lambert) – vocals, engineering, mixing, producing (1996–present) • Pressure (Daniel Howe Smith) – vocals (1996–present) • DJ Debris (Barry John M Francis) – producing, engineering, turntablism (1999–present) Former members • DJ Next (Ben John Hare) – audio engineering, DJing, turntablism, scratching (1996–1999) • MC Summit aka DJ Sum-1 – vocals (ca. 1996) ==Discography==

• A Matter of Time (1999) • Left Foot, Right Foot (2001) • The Calling (2003) • The Hard Road (2006) • State of the Art (2009) • Drinking from the Sun (2012) • Walking Under Stars (2014) • The Great Expanse (2019) • Fall from the Light (2025) ==Recognition and awards==

Hilltop Hoods are regarded as pioneers of the "larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. They received nominations for the Best Hip Hop Act in 2001 and 2002 at the 3D World Dance Music Awards. They won the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Award for Best Upcoming Group. In December 2020, the Hilltop Hoods were listed at number 27 in Rolling Stone Australias "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue. On 26 July 2025, "The Nosebleed Section" was voted to 2nd place (after INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart") in Triple J's Hottest 100 of Australian Songs . With three tracks voted into the Triple J Hottest 100 in January 2026, making a total of 27 songs since their first appearance in 2003, the band hold the record for the most recurrent artist in the history of the annual countdown. In March 2026, Adelaide City Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith announced that a laneway in Adelaide city centre, Clubhouse Lane, would be named Hilltop Hoods Lane later in the year. They are the sixth South Australian artists to receive a named laneway under the City of Music, joining The Angels, No Fixed Address, Paul Kelly, Cold Chisel, and Sia Furler. AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. APRA Awards The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". ARIA Awards In 2006 Hilltop Hoods were nominated for five ARIA Awards – the first ever for an Australian hip hop group – winning in two categories: 'Best Urban Release' and 'Best Independent Release'. The following year they won 'Best Urban Release' at the ARIA Awards for The Hard Road: Restrung. The DVD City of Light was nominated as 'Best Music DVD' at the 2008 ARIA awards. The band was nominated in three ARIA categories in 2014: Best Group, Best Urban Album, and Engineer of the Year. In an October 2014 radio interview, Smith said that the band does not expect to win an award, but wishes the best for the winners; however, the Best Urban Album award was given to the band on 26 November 2014, providing the band with their seventh ARIA award. Fowler's Live Music Awards The Fowler's Live Music Awards took place from 2012 to 2014 to "recognise success and achievement over the past 12 months [and] celebrate the great diversity of original live music" in South Australia. Since 2015 they're known as the South Australian Music Awards. J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005. National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. ==Other projects==

Hilltop Hoods Initiative In 2005 the annual "Hilltop Hoods Initiative" was established in association with Arts SA, made possible by a donation from the Hilltop Hoods. Valued at A$10,000 (originally $3000), the Hilltop Hoods initiative helped young and emerging South Australian hip-hop artists to manufacture and distribute a CD. The initiative also included two mentorship sessions with Hilltop Hoods' former manager, PJ Murton. It acknowledges the important role South Australian government assistance played in the development of the careers of the Hilltop Hoods. In 2009, the initiative became a national grant available to entry for any emerging Australian hip-hop artist who have not issued a professional album. • Chelsea Jane (2013), Gold Coast, Queensland artist • I AM D (2014), Brisbane, Queensland solo artist • Sarah Connor, a solo artist (2015) • Astro Travellers, a seven-piece group (2016) • MC Sinks, a solo artist from Melbourne, Victoria. (2017). Hilltop Hoods Remix Shoe The Hilltop Hoods and DC Shoes collaborated on the production of a limited-edition shoe called "The Hilltop Hoods Remix Shoe"—it was released in stores on 1 February 2008. They are the first Australian music group to design and release their own signature-model shoe. Illustration and Design by John Engelhardt injected its unique style Golden Era Records Following its departure from the Obese record label, the group launched its own label in 2009, entitled Golden Era Records. The label's title is described by the band on the label website: To some people the golden era of Hip Hop was '94. Ask someone a little older and they'll tell you Hip Hop's renaissance was back in '88. Ask one of our revered pioneers and they'll tell you that the golden era came and went three decades ago, before most of today's Hip Hop heads were born. Whatever the case these so-called golden eras weren't only defined by the music or the fashion – they were characterised by something less tangible – an atmosphere, a movement. This label wasn't established to release throw-back records; instead we hope to make music that throws you back to the way you felt during the golden era of Hip Hop. Whatever year that was for you. The label is based in Stirling, South Australia, and, as of December 2012, its roster consists of the Hilltop Hoods, Briggs, Funkoars, Vents, Adfu, K21, Charity The CanTeen youth cancer charity announced that the 2-CD fundraising album Australian Hip Hop Supports CanTeen had raised over AU$122,000 as of 15 October 2014. Released in late 2013, the album features contributions from Hilltop Hoods, as well as numerous other Australian hip-hop artists. The initiative was originally conceived of by Robert Hunter, an MC who rapped under the name "Hunter" (SBX), who died from cancer prior to the release of the album. Through the Dark interactive film On 11 November 2016 Hilltop Hoods released an interactive film called Through the Dark, which featured their song of the same name. The interactive film project was a collaboration with Google Play Music and was directed by Mike Daly. ==See also==