X & Hell
X & Hell: allies in debauchery, a living how-to guide for being awesome, avid fans of the robot and just a couple of knockabout lads looking to make a million dollars.
X & Hell grew up in suburban Melbourne on a diet of shopping centre hanging, BMX racing, video game arcades, dodging school and racking porn, rap and shitty '90s dance music. The lads did what any self-respecting teenage deviants do and began rapping at bus stops and rocket fuel powered backyard parties. Fast forward a few years and the boys had grown up (well, physically) and formed a pretty legitimate hip-hop act. They released an album, were nominated for ARIAs, got arrested, drank copious amounts of expensive booze and did babes.
Then, at the beginning of 2008, the boys had an epiphany. No longer would they enter the studio and confine themselves to making simply 'rap'. From now on, they would just make music – music that embraced the sounds that had shaped their lives, ranging from Prince to Toto, Journey to Outkast, and more recently, acts like Chromeo and Bag Raiders. This was a new beginning, a new vision, a re-birth for the duo, and the new project needed a new name. Enter X & Hell.
Teaming with producer and friend Styalz Fuego (Sneaky Sound System, Chamillionaire), the boys (producer / rapper / hardman X and singer / rapper / comedian / bodybuilder Hell) began work on a brand new album, Million Dollar Sex Party, kick-starting a musical departure of catastrophic proportions for the group in the process. Anchored by X & Hell's evolving subject matter and focusing sharply on melodic hooks and electronic inspired beats, Million Dollar Sex Party's sound can only be described as schizophrenic, with the duo weaving its way through high energy club-rap, soulful and tender pop moments and unexpected rushes of electro madness. At it's core, Million Dollar Sex Party is a party record, even when dealing with it's occasionally serious subject matter, but even in it's most deliciously cheesy moments, the LP undeniably displays that X & Hell are genuinely innovative, clever and brilliant musicians.
Million Dollar Sex Party features the singles Don't Stop Movin, Shades Off and Jump the Gun, but is an album slapped full of finely crafted songs, with each track leading effortlessly into the next to create an overall audio experience rather than a compilation of unrelated tracks. Million Dollar Sex Party is what an album should be - a moment of time in the life of its creators. And in the case of X & Hell, this is a moment in time that represents experimentation, rebirth and the rediscovery of fun.
X & Hell grew up in suburban Melbourne on a diet of shopping centre hanging, BMX racing, video game arcades, dodging school and racking porn, rap and shitty '90s dance music. The lads did what any self-respecting teenage deviants do and began rapping at bus stops and rocket fuel powered backyard parties. Fast forward a few years and the boys had grown up (well, physically) and formed a pretty legitimate hip-hop act. They released an album, were nominated for ARIAs, got arrested, drank copious amounts of expensive booze and did babes.
Then, at the beginning of 2008, the boys had an epiphany. No longer would they enter the studio and confine themselves to making simply 'rap'. From now on, they would just make music – music that embraced the sounds that had shaped their lives, ranging from Prince to Toto, Journey to Outkast, and more recently, acts like Chromeo and Bag Raiders. This was a new beginning, a new vision, a re-birth for the duo, and the new project needed a new name. Enter X & Hell.
Teaming with producer and friend Styalz Fuego (Sneaky Sound System, Chamillionaire), the boys (producer / rapper / hardman X and singer / rapper / comedian / bodybuilder Hell) began work on a brand new album, Million Dollar Sex Party, kick-starting a musical departure of catastrophic proportions for the group in the process. Anchored by X & Hell's evolving subject matter and focusing sharply on melodic hooks and electronic inspired beats, Million Dollar Sex Party's sound can only be described as schizophrenic, with the duo weaving its way through high energy club-rap, soulful and tender pop moments and unexpected rushes of electro madness. At it's core, Million Dollar Sex Party is a party record, even when dealing with it's occasionally serious subject matter, but even in it's most deliciously cheesy moments, the LP undeniably displays that X & Hell are genuinely innovative, clever and brilliant musicians.
Million Dollar Sex Party features the singles Don't Stop Movin, Shades Off and Jump the Gun, but is an album slapped full of finely crafted songs, with each track leading effortlessly into the next to create an overall audio experience rather than a compilation of unrelated tracks. Million Dollar Sex Party is what an album should be - a moment of time in the life of its creators. And in the case of X & Hell, this is a moment in time that represents experimentation, rebirth and the rediscovery of fun.
