- Off the Grid · 2017
- Running On Air · 2010
- Circus In the Sky · 2013
- Flying Colours · 2008
- Running On Air · 2010
- Flying Colours · 2008
- The Sun · 2021
- The Sun · 2021
- Not Today - Single · 2022
- Off the Grid · 2017
- Circus In the Sky · 2013
- Day of the Dog · 2006
- Circus In the Sky · 2013
Essential Albums
- Bliss n Eso’s fifth album begins with a sample of Charlie Chaplin’s final speech from the 1940 film The Great Dictator. This rousing plea for humanity is an appropriate start to Circus in the Sky, an LP on which MCs Bliss (Jonathan Notley) and Eso (Max MacKinnon) spit some of their most personal lyrics to date. “Home Is Where the Heart Is” recalls their formative years in school over a solid funk beat; “Life’s Midnight” finds Eso recounting the moment when, as a five-year-old, he met his idol, Shabba Doo from the breakdancing film Breakin’, during a family vacation in Los Angeles. Big-name collabs abound (legendary rapper Nas guests on “I Am Somebody”; R&B singer Daniel Merriweather provides vocals on the soulful “Can’t Get Rid of This Feeling”), but none is as fun as “Reservoir Dogs”, featuring fellow Aussie rappers Seth Sentry, Pez, 360 and Drapht, who composed the lyrics over a group email.
- If Bliss n Eso’s first two albums—2004’s Flowers in the Pavement and 2006’s Day of the Dog—introduced them as lively, if inconsistent, hip-hop party-starters, then Flying Colours, their third, established them as a more serious group. Encouraged by their growing profile, they relocated from Sydney to Melbourne, where they recorded the album during an intensive three-month period. They found inspiration in unusual places—witness the cover of Citizen Cope’s “Bullet and a Target”, complete with 20-piece African vocal group The Connections Zulu Choir, or the thoughtful “Eye of the Storm”, which samples Angus & Julia Stone's “Paper Aeroplane”. The trio are at their most playful on the funk-meets-Latin melodies of “Happy in My Hoody” and the skit-riddled “Royal Flush”, while some songs showcase a new-found depth, such as “The Sea Is Rising”, a string-laden call to arms that laments the pollution of the earth and politicians' misguided priorities. The album's ensuing tour saw Bliss n Eso break box office records for the genre in Australia, and become the first local hip-hop act to tour America.
Albums
- 2017
Artist Playlists
- A Sydney trio of ex-schoolmates rewrite the history of Oz hip-hop.
Appears On
About Bliss n Eso
Since forming in 2000, the Australian rap trio Bliss n Eso have built a huge national following and notched three chart-topping albums. For many fans, they define Australian hip-hop. • At first, the crew was known as Bliss n Esoterikizm. They shortened the name to appeal to an international audience. • In December 2005, BNE served as an opening act on the Australian leg of 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Tour. • The trio made the Top 10 of the ARIA charts with their third album, 2008’s Flying Colours. • Bliss n Eso topped the ARIA charts in 2010 with their album Running on Air. They would string together three consecutive No. 1 albums thanks to 2013’s Circus in the Sky, which features a collaboration with legendary New York rapper Nas, and 2017’s Off the Grid. • The group returned in 2020 with the electronic-leaning “Lighthouse”, featuring Jake Isaac, their first song in three years.
- ORIGIN
- Sydney, Australia
- FORMED
- 2000
- GENRE
- Hip-Hop/Rap