Words by Kayla-May Cosgrove
Baro is incoming. The eighteen-year-old Melbourne rapper is riding gold and green melodious waves these days, having wowed crowds at Splendour in the Grass and beyond.
I’ve been following Baro’s SoundCloud (and career) since seeing him at a warehouse gig in Brisbane almost a year ago. Since then I’ve busied myself listening, with intrigue, to his collaborations, EPs and demos, all boasting complete originality – he’s against the grain of what many consider ‘Aus hip hop’, and we could be happier that that title is finally starting to dissolve. Baro is smooth, nonchalant, and polite within his raps. His voice oozes from verse to verse, like dripping honey, at the same time emitting a hearty resonance for your psyche.
When you compare Baro to the over-produced, over-clean ‘bros and barbecues’ kinda of sound that we traditionally call ‘Aus hip hop’, it couldn’t be clearer that Baro has been carved from a different block. Anything but a stereotype of Australian hip hop, this is an artist whose music has identity.
Baro’s whole discography is like a pasture of wildflowers and chill beats, where his voice is comfortably relaxing on the green, staring at the clouds rolling past – yet conversely, his live show goes absolutely wild.
His sound creates a pacified infatuation, pioneering content that is cultivating, genuine and notable. There is no questioning Baro’s recent rise in popularity, a result of his refreshingly dope EP 17/18, and I can only hope he continues to make music because he wants to, with the individuality that his fan base holds in such high regards.
Listen to: Peppermint, a song that closely resembles that chocolate milk you can get, where the more you shake the creamier it gets.
And for all the sweetie pies: A collaborative trio of soppiness, swooning you in all the right ways, courtesy of Poncho, which is Baro and Ancentric together:
More: The New Frontier: read our interview with Baro