Illy with a birth name of Al Murray from Melbourne, Victoria is now Eazy Entertainment’s featured artist of the week. Illy is an Australian hip hop artist, a rapper that was previously a member of Crooked Eye before doing a solo career.
Illy the rapper, “Long Story Short” was his first launched album in 2009 under Obese Records. The album is a tale about falling in and out of love with family, people, hip-hop, places, and travelling the world, a serious hospital scare and the ensuing long road to recovery. “Long Story Short” opens with “Generation Y,” a politically driven ode to the power of those whose days as the underdog are numbered. The album “Long Story Short” reached #24 on the ARIA Top 40 Urban Albums chart and “Pictures”, the lead single, was placed on national rotation on Triple J. In April 2010, Illy embarked on his first national headlining tour, playing 12 dates nationally. In September the same year, Illy toured nationally alongside Australian rappers 360 and Skryptcha for “The Three Up Tour”.
In October 2010, Illy, released his second album “The Chase,” and its lead single “It Can Wait” debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number fifty-eight. In October 2011, “It Can Wait” was certified Gold by ARIA after selling 35,000 copies. In 2011, Illy was nominated for an ARIA Music Award for Best Urban Album for The Chase, which was won by Drapht. His single “Cigarettes” was on high rotation on Triple J and came 35th in the 2011 Triple J Hottest 100. In February 2011, Illy embarked on his 14-date nationwide “The Chase Tour”, with special guest M-Phazes.
Illy released his third album, “Bring It Back”, on 21 September 2012, following the release of the single “Heard it All”. This album has been described by Illy himself as a “passion project”, as a “tribute” to the Australian Hip Hop scene. Because of his great contribution to Australian hip hop music, Eazy Entertainment declare Illy as the featured artist of the week.
He is currently working on his fourth studio album, "Cinematic", a sequel to The Chase, which is set for release on 8 November 2013. He has announced that he has been working with M-Phazes and J-Skub, two producers who worked on his first two albums. He announced on his Facebook page that his fourth album will be released through his own record label, “ONETWO”, in association with Warner Music Australia.
To celebrate the release of his brand new single On & On, Illy has announced today a capital city headline tour for September 2013. Illy will be joined on the road by an impressive line-up including Tuka, Allday and Elemont.
ONETWO, We Are Unified, SPA and themusic.com.au presents ILLY with Special Guests Tuka, Allday and Elemont this Friday September 27, 2013 at 7:30pm at The Gov.
Sources: Wikipedia, MTV, Moshtix, Facebook, Illy’s Official Website
Watch out for more “Featured Artist of the Week” next week….
