Draphting a diverse soundscape

ARIA award-winning hip-hop artist Drapht will grace the Settlers Tavern stage tonight with fellow Perth emcee Marksman Lloyd.

It’s been seven years since the Rapunzel, Jimmy Recard and Tasty rapper came to the South West and since then he has released two critically acclaimed albums — Seven Mirrors and Arabella Street.

At 17, Drapht became involved with Syllabolix and was almost immediately cast as a vital cog in the Perth underground hip-hop scene with other up-and-coming stars Hunter and Dazastah.

“My biggest inspirations when I was coming up were Downsyde, especially Dazastah with his flow and use of punch lines, and of course the Hoods (Hilltop Hoods),” Drapht said.

“Early 2000s UK boom bap artists like Chester P and Skinnyman were also huge to my lyrical development but now my main influences are Frank Ocean sonically and a 70s style of writing similar to the Beatles and Donny Hathaway.”

The Mt Lawley native, who boasts almost 20 years of music in his catalogue, said he’d continue to play songs from his entire diverse soundscape.

“People spin out, they really stress out when they think I’m only going to play my most recent tracks,” he said.

“I know that other artists do that but I understand that some fans only like Brothers Grimm (2008) or Life of Riley (2011) so I really enjoy playing that older stuff.”

Life of Riley won the ARIA for Best Urban Album.

That same year, Drapht was also nominated for Most Popular Australian Artist, Single of the Year (Rapunzel), Engineer of the Year, Best Male Artist and Breakthrough Artist – Album.

Drapht’s journey of self-discovery over the last two decades is apparent in his lyrics, growing from the party-style tracks such as Drink, Drank, Drunk and Bali Party to more contemplative songs such as Beyond Babylon and Asylum alongside Sydney’s Joyride.

Drapht’s latest album, Arabella Street, demonises social media influencers’ egos on Emperor’s New Clothes and the perils of break-ups as on the catchy The Come Down was Real.

Recent hits, Mexico (recorded with Dune Rats), All Love, Don Quixote and Marksman Lloyd’s new single Oomph will all be a part of Drapht’s Settlers’ set.

New kids on the block Complete and Beyond Belief have inspired Drapht to “up his game” lyrically on his next studio album, which is poised for release in early 2020.

“I’m in the studio at the moment with six or seven tracks ready to go which I will start to drip feed soon,” he said.

“I want to be able to deliver on lyric ability and flow as well as composition and production quality,” he said.

“I feel like I have a lot to offer and I’m just getting back on top of my game, it’s exciting.”

Drapht and Marksman Lloyd will perform at 9.30pm tonight on the indoor stage at Settlers Tavern.

Tickets are $34.70 and available via Oztix.