Bliss n Eso
Encyclopedia
Bliss n Eso are an ARIA Award
-winning Australian hip hop
band based in Sydney
, and were originally known as Bliss N' Esoterikizm for their debut EP The Arrival. Bliss N Eso are currently signed to Melbourne record label Illusive Sounds
, and are managed and booked by label co-founders Adam Jankie and Matt Gudinski.
MC Bliss (Jonathan Notley), Australian MC Eso (Max MacKinnon) and DJ Izm (Tarik Ejjamai) of Moroccan
heritage, have been friends (and have rapped together) since high school. Notley moved to Australia in 1992 when he was thirteen and met MacKinnon at the Glenaeon Steiner School
in Sydney.
MacKinnon later moved to Kuranda State High School, in Queensland, which is where he met Ejjamai. The group initially went by the name of 'Bliss N Esoterikizm', but that proved to be too much of a mouthful for most people.
In 2000 they issued their first release, the EP
The Arrival, under the name 'Bliss N Esoterikizm', which was followed by a mixtape
CD. They released their debut album, Flowers in the Pavement on Obese Records in 2004. Bliss N Eso were the winners in the Hip Hop category at the 2003 Music Oz Awards and nominees for Artist of the Year in 2004.
In December 2005 the trio performed as a support act for 50 Cent
on his Get Rich or Die Trying tour together with G-Unit
and Lil Jon
.
The group then switched labels to Illusive Sounds
and released their second official album, Day of the Dog
, on 4 March 2006. The album features production from Bliss, Weapon X, Suffa, and MC Motley, among others. It also features guest spots from British emcees MC Motley and Mystro
, as well as fellow Sydney MC, Hyjak. Day of the Dog debuted at #43 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the first Australian hip-hop release to debut in the top 50. The group undertook a national tour in March and April of that year to support the album. Day of the Dog
was then entirely remixed by Gold Coast
producer M-Phazes
and released later that year as Day of the Dog: Phazed Out. The album was nominated for Best Urban Release at the 2007 ARIA Awards
; the award was won by the Hilltop Hoods
for The Hard Road: Restrung
.
The group's third single, "Then Till Now", which contains remixed instrumental elements from the Hilltop Hoods
song "Riding Under One Banner", received airplay on Triple J
, rage
and Video Hits
. "Mad Tight", their fourth single, was played on radio stations Triple J, 3RRR
, PBS, and on FBi
. The music video was shown on rage.
In 2007, Bliss N Eso travelled to North America, playing shows in the northwest of North America, including a performance at the Whistler
2007 Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.
In October 2007 they released the first single of their album "Bullet and a Target", featuring the Connections Zulu Choir (a 21 piece African Choir from South Africa
), which was recorded at Jimmy Barnes
' home studio in Sydney and reached #46 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The track features a remixed version of Citizen Cope
's song by the same title. 100% of all profits from the sale of the song goes to The Oaktree Foundation
, Australia's only youth-run international aid and development organisation.
Following up on their collaboration with the choir, Bliss N Eso embarked on a journey in June 2007 with MTV
and the Oaktree Foundation to some of the poorest regions in South Africa
to complete the track and shoot the video clip for "Bullet and a Target". Bliss N Eso also shot a documentary with Evermore produced by MTV, aimed at creating awareness about the challenges faced by developing communities in Africa. The film clip and 30 minute documentary aired exclusively on MTV and received attention from the media and the public. Recently the group have been nominated for the 'Good Karma Award' for these efforts at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
.
Bliss N Eso were one of the Australian hip hop artists featured in the documentary Words from the City, which aired on ABC Television in late 2007.
The group's third album, Flying Colours, was released on 26 April 2008 - coinciding with a national tour by the group, along with True Live
, Funkoars
and The Winnie Coopers. The album debuted a week later at #10 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, and it remained in the ARIA Top 100 for the following 12 weeks. The album was nominated for a J Award
in August 2008, and also nominated for an ARIA award for Best Urban Release.
In August 2008 Bliss N Eso performed at the Splendour in the Grass
festival and at the Trackside Festival in Canberra
. In September they went on the road for their most successful national tour to date, with sell out performances across the country, concluding with a sold out home coming show at the Enmore Theatre
in Sydney to a capacity crowd of 2500 patrons. They will be touring Canada at the end of the year and are planning to re-release Flying Colours in early 2009, with a bonus DVD. The DVD will contain a live performance that the band plan to film and record at the Metro Theatre in Sydney.
Bliss N Eso appeared for the first time in a Triple J Hottest 100
with three entries in the 2008 countdown
; "Eye of the Storm" at number 40, "The Sea is Rising" at number 61 and "Woodstock 2008" at number 94. "Happy in My Hoody" failed to make the Hottest 100 but did come in at number 136.
In 2009 the success of Bliss N Eso continued with their Flying Colours album, which remained in the official ARIA charts for over a year. They also performed at the Sound Relief
concert in front of 82,000 people at Melbourne's MCG
on 14 March 2009. They were the only hip-hop act to perform at the concert, which raised over 8 million dollars for Victoria's bushfire
victims.
In April 2009 Bliss N Eso announced a major city Australian tour which includes two shows at Melbourne's iconic festival hall as well as the largest venues they have played to date across the country. Their first show at Festival Hall
sold out in four days making it the fastest selling Australian hip hop
show of all time selling to a capacity of 5,100 patrons. The early sales of the 'Flying Colours Live Tour' cement Bliss N Eso as one of the best and strongest live acts in the Country.
On Sunday 26 April 2009, Bliss N Eso became the first Australian hip hop act to perform on Rove, where they performed "Woodstock 2008" and "The Sea Is Rising" to a live television audience broadcast nationally on the Ten Network
.
In May 2009 Bliss N Eso received two APRA award nominations in the category, 'Best Urban Works' for "The Sea is Rising" and "Woodstock 2008". On 14 June "Flying Colours" became only the second Australian hip hop
album to be certified gold, after being in the ARIA Charts
for 58 weeks. The group's song "Field of Dreams" has also been included on EA Sports
boxing video game Fight Night Round 4
.
Bliss N Eso released their live album Flying Colours Live in June 2009 to coincide with another national tour of Australia. The album features a bonus track, "On Tour", which has received significant airplay from Triple J
and includes a DVD, featuring their MTV nominated documentary, 'Out of Africa', and the group's live performance at Sydney's Metro Theatre. Following their national tour they will be working in the recording studio on their fourth studio album, with producers M-Phazes and Hattori Hanzo.
In October 2009 Bliss N Eso became the first Australian hip-hop act to tour the USA. Bliss N Eso embarked on a twenty-one date tour with Canadian hip-hop group, Swollen Members, together with Las Vegas
MC BIG B and DJ Klaw. Their tour bus dubbed 'The Black Pearl' was later hit by a train and destroyed while on its way back to California at the end of the tour. Three people were on board but no one was injured.
On 17 May 2010, Bliss N Eso released "Down by the River", the first single off their upcoming fourth studio album, Running on Air. The single premiered on Triple J's "2010" new music show with Richard Kingsmill
the night before. "Down by the River" was the fourth most added track to Australian radio on the weekend of 14 May, which included across the board airplay on Triple J nationally, Nova FM, Hot30 and many other community and commercial radio networks. In July 2010 Bliss N Eso released a free track called "Golden Years", also from Running on Air. Following the release of the single the band embarked on the "Down by the River" tour of Australia with sold out shows in major cities across the country.
On 30 July 2010 Bliss N Eso released their fourth studio album Running on Air
. The album went straight to number one on the Australian iTunes album chart within minutes of its release. Triple J and Nova FM both featured several tracks from the album in the lead up to its release. The album garnered near perfect reviews across the board, with some even stating that "it may be the genre's finest release" (Time Off).
On 8 August 2010 Bliss N Eso's fourth studio album Running on Air debuted on the Australian ARIA charts at number one. It was the first album to knock Eminem
off the top spot in 6 weeks and received significant acclaim for this feat. Bliss N Eso also had 2 albums and 3 singles in the Urban charts during this week. Less than 2 weeks after its release, Running on Air was certified Gold in Australia with sales in excess of 35,000. Shortly afterwards, Bliss N Eso embarked their sold-out Down by the River Australian tour, and before long the trio had their first platinum album in Running on Air. The Album went on to receive multiple awards nominations including the Triple J Album of the Year award, Channel V Australian Artist of the Year award, Independent Music Award, Multiple APRA Awards & two ARIA awards.
In late August Bliss n Eso announced they would be heading back over to America. The band teamed up with the legendary Kottonmouth Kings for a 26 date run across the USA. This was the bands 2nd US tour. Bliss n Eso have recently played and been announced for various Australian summer festivals including The Big Day Out, Fat as Butter, Southbound, Full Noise, Another World, Time Out, Groovin The Moo Festival and more.
In June & July 2011 Bliss n Eso set out in the record breaking Running On Air Tour, Performing in front of over 50,000 people including 8,000 fans at their sold Brisbane Riverstage show which was recorded as the highest selling local hip-hop show of all time.
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
-winning Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States of America. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music...
band based in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, and were originally known as Bliss N' Esoterikizm for their debut EP The Arrival. Bliss N Eso are currently signed to Melbourne record label Illusive Sounds
Illusive Sounds
Illusive Group is an independent Australian record label & touring company that represents a number of acts including Bliss n Eso, Lowrider, Paris Wells, Downsyde, Metals, True Live, Diafrix and X&Hell.-History:...
, and are managed and booked by label co-founders Adam Jankie and Matt Gudinski.
History
The trio, AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
MC Bliss (Jonathan Notley), Australian MC Eso (Max MacKinnon) and DJ Izm (Tarik Ejjamai) of Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
heritage, have been friends (and have rapped together) since high school. Notley moved to Australia in 1992 when he was thirteen and met MacKinnon at the Glenaeon Steiner School
Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School
Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School is a Steiner school located in Middle Cove and Castlecrag in Sydney, New South Wales. It was the first Steiner school established in Australia. The school is spread over two campuses with the Kindergarten and Years One and Two at Castlecrag and Years Three to Twelve...
in Sydney.
"When I got to Australia, I met Eso (MacKinnon) and he was the only guy at my school into hip-hop. It was so scarce you'd be lucky to find a hip-hop record in a store let alone a whole section." - Jonathan "Bliss" Notley
"Back then hip hop was basically non-existent; there was no urban or hip-hop section in the CD stores. You'd be lucky to find a couple of albums like a Public Enemy album or something if you went to the CD stores. So I guess that's one of the reasons why Max, who's Eso, and I kinda bonded at high school, I think, because he was really the only other guy in the school who was into hip-hop." - Jonathan "Bliss" Notley
MacKinnon later moved to Kuranda State High School, in Queensland, which is where he met Ejjamai. The group initially went by the name of 'Bliss N Esoterikizm', but that proved to be too much of a mouthful for most people.
In 2000 they issued their first release, the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
The Arrival, under the name 'Bliss N Esoterikizm', which was followed by a mixtape
Mixtape
A Mix Tape or Mixed Tape is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.A Mix Tape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a...
CD. They released their debut album, Flowers in the Pavement on Obese Records in 2004. Bliss N Eso were the winners in the Hip Hop category at the 2003 Music Oz Awards and nominees for Artist of the Year in 2004.
In December 2005 the trio performed as a support act for 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
on his Get Rich or Die Trying tour together with G-Unit
G-Unit
G-Unit is an American hip hop group originating from New York City formed by 50 Cents. G-Unit emerged on the New York scene by independently releasing several mix tapes...
and Lil Jon
Lil Jon
Jonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...
.
The group then switched labels to Illusive Sounds
Illusive Sounds
Illusive Group is an independent Australian record label & touring company that represents a number of acts including Bliss n Eso, Lowrider, Paris Wells, Downsyde, Metals, True Live, Diafrix and X&Hell.-History:...
and released their second official album, Day of the Dog
Day of the Dog
-Production:* Bliss * BNAproductions * DJ Hoppa * M-Phazes * Motley * N.U.G. * Rocc * SeFu * Suffa * Trax...
, on 4 March 2006. The album features production from Bliss, Weapon X, Suffa, and MC Motley, among others. It also features guest spots from British emcees MC Motley and Mystro
Mystro
Kevin Amarfio is a British hip hop MC better known by the name Mystro.-History:Mystro first recorded appearance was in 1998, as the featured artist on Cane's "The Struggle" 12". In 1999, Mystro released the "Kiss That Arse Goodnight" single, featuring Jargon and Skinnyman, on Deal Real Records...
, as well as fellow Sydney MC, Hyjak. Day of the Dog debuted at #43 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the first Australian hip-hop release to debut in the top 50. The group undertook a national tour in March and April of that year to support the album. Day of the Dog
Day of the Dog
-Production:* Bliss * BNAproductions * DJ Hoppa * M-Phazes * Motley * N.U.G. * Rocc * SeFu * Suffa * Trax...
was then entirely remixed by Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
producer M-Phazes
M-Phazes
M-Phazes is an Australian Hip Hop producer and artist based in Melbourne, Victoria. Born on the Gold Coast he relocated to Melbourne to further his musical career...
and released later that year as Day of the Dog: Phazed Out. The album was nominated for Best Urban Release at the 2007 ARIA Awards
ARIA Music Awards of 2007
The 21st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 28 October 2007 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Rove McManus was the host of the event...
; the award was won by the Hilltop Hoods
Hilltop Hoods
The Hilltop Hoods are an ARIA Award winning Australian hip hop group, from Adelaide, South Australia. Their members are MCs Suffa , MC Pressure , DJ Debris and formerly DJ Next. They have been at the centre of the Australian hip hop scene for the better part of two decades, originally forming back...
for The Hard Road: Restrung
The Hard Road: Restrung
-Chart positions:...
.
The group's third single, "Then Till Now", which contains remixed instrumental elements from the Hilltop Hoods
Hilltop Hoods
The Hilltop Hoods are an ARIA Award winning Australian hip hop group, from Adelaide, South Australia. Their members are MCs Suffa , MC Pressure , DJ Debris and formerly DJ Next. They have been at the centre of the Australian hip hop scene for the better part of two decades, originally forming back...
song "Riding Under One Banner", received airplay on Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, rage
Rage (TV program)
Rage is a popular all-night Australian music video program broadcast on ABC1 on Friday nights, Saturday mornings and Saturday nights. It was first screened on the weekend of Friday, 17 April 1987. With Soul Train no longer being produced, it is the oldest music television program currently still...
and Video Hits
Video Hits (Australian TV series)
Video Hits was an Australian music video program that first aired on 15 February 1987. From 7 May 2011 it broadcasted on Network Ten for two hours each Saturday and Sunday morning: 10am – 12pm on Saturdays and 8am – 10am on Sundays. Video Hits was the world's second longest running music show...
. "Mad Tight", their fourth single, was played on radio stations Triple J, 3RRR
3RRR
3RRR is a popular Australian community radio station, based in Melbourne. It is the largest per capita subscribed radio station in the world....
, PBS, and on FBi
FBi Radio
FBi is an independent, not-for-profit community radio station in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local alternative music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of which at least half comes from Sydney musicians.FBi began 'test...
. The music video was shown on rage.
In 2007, Bliss N Eso travelled to North America, playing shows in the northwest of North America, including a performance at the Whistler
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
2007 Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.
"We did a small run of the northwest states, around Portland area and then went up to Whistler in Canada and we did a sold out show in Whistler, which was unreal, to go all the way across the world and have a whole bunch of Aussies screaming at you" - Jonathan Notley
In October 2007 they released the first single of their album "Bullet and a Target", featuring the Connections Zulu Choir (a 21 piece African Choir from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
), which was recorded at Jimmy Barnes
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...
' home studio in Sydney and reached #46 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The track features a remixed version of Citizen Cope
Citizen Cope
Clarence Greenwood is an American songwriter and producer. His eclectic mix of blues, laid-back rock, soul, and folk has a large and profoundly dedicated following, built over the past decade of touring due to solid word of mouth....
's song by the same title. 100% of all profits from the sale of the song goes to The Oaktree Foundation
The Oaktree Foundation
The Oaktree Foundation is an Australian-based aid and development Publicly Limited Company run by young people aged 16 to 26.Internationally, Oaktree partners with developing communities to support quality educational opportunities for young people...
, Australia's only youth-run international aid and development organisation.
Following up on their collaboration with the choir, Bliss N Eso embarked on a journey in June 2007 with MTV
MTV Australia
MTV Australia is 24 hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. It is operated by Viacom International Media Networks Australia owned by Viacom and primarily features imported shows as well as locally produced...
and the Oaktree Foundation to some of the poorest regions in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to complete the track and shoot the video clip for "Bullet and a Target". Bliss N Eso also shot a documentary with Evermore produced by MTV, aimed at creating awareness about the challenges faced by developing communities in Africa. The film clip and 30 minute documentary aired exclusively on MTV and received attention from the media and the public. Recently the group have been nominated for the 'Good Karma Award' for these efforts at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Australia Awards 2008
The MTV Australia Awards 2008 is the new title for the Australian MTV Awards previously known as the MTV Australia Video Music Awards. The show was held at Sydney's Australian Technology Park in Redfern on 26 April 2008 and aired live on MTV Australia and Fox8 on the Foxtel, Austar and Optus...
.
Bliss N Eso were one of the Australian hip hop artists featured in the documentary Words from the City, which aired on ABC Television in late 2007.
The group's third album, Flying Colours, was released on 26 April 2008 - coinciding with a national tour by the group, along with True Live
True Live
True Live is an Australian jazz rap band formed in Melbourne, Australia. They had chart success with "TV" reaching #76 on the ARIA Single Chart and The Shape Of It reaching #85 on the ARIA Albums Chart...
, Funkoars
Funkoars
The Funkoars are an Australian hip hop act from Adelaide. They are part of the Certified Wise crew, sixteen South Australian hip hop artists who often appear on each others tracks on various albums.-Members:...
and The Winnie Coopers. The album debuted a week later at #10 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, and it remained in the ARIA Top 100 for the following 12 weeks. The album was nominated for a J Award
J Award
The J Award is an award given by influential Australian youth radio station Triple J to Australian Album of the Year. It is judged by a panel of members of the music industry, led by Richard Kingsmill...
in August 2008, and also nominated for an ARIA award for Best Urban Release.
In August 2008 Bliss N Eso performed at the Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass is an annual Australian music festival held in July at Woodford, Queensland, and previously held at Belongil Fields, outside Byron Bay...
festival and at the Trackside Festival in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
. In September they went on the road for their most successful national tour to date, with sell out performances across the country, concluding with a sold out home coming show at the Enmore Theatre
Enmore Theatre
The Enmore Theatre is a theatre and entertainment venue in Sydney. It is located on Enmore Road in the suburb of Enmore, south-west of the adjoining suburb, Newtown. It is a medium-sized venue...
in Sydney to a capacity crowd of 2500 patrons. They will be touring Canada at the end of the year and are planning to re-release Flying Colours in early 2009, with a bonus DVD. The DVD will contain a live performance that the band plan to film and record at the Metro Theatre in Sydney.
Bliss N Eso appeared for the first time in a Triple J Hottest 100
Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...
with three entries in the 2008 countdown
Triple J Hottest 100, 2008
The 2008 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day, 26 January 2009. It was the sixteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station, Triple J....
; "Eye of the Storm" at number 40, "The Sea is Rising" at number 61 and "Woodstock 2008" at number 94. "Happy in My Hoody" failed to make the Hottest 100 but did come in at number 136.
In 2009 the success of Bliss N Eso continued with their Flying Colours album, which remained in the official ARIA charts for over a year. They also performed at the Sound Relief
Sound Relief
Sound Relief was a multi-venue rock music concert held on 14 March 2009, which was announced by the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby on 24 February 2009...
concert in front of 82,000 people at Melbourne's MCG
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
on 14 March 2009. They were the only hip-hop act to perform at the concert, which raised over 8 million dollars for Victoria's bushfire
February 2009 Victorian bushfires
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009...
victims.
In April 2009 Bliss N Eso announced a major city Australian tour which includes two shows at Melbourne's iconic festival hall as well as the largest venues they have played to date across the country. Their first show at Festival Hall
Festival Hall, Melbourne
Festival Hall is a concert and sporting venue, located at 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of Melbourne's larger concert venues and has hosted a variety of local and international acts over many years....
sold out in four days making it the fastest selling Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States of America. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music...
show of all time selling to a capacity of 5,100 patrons. The early sales of the 'Flying Colours Live Tour' cement Bliss N Eso as one of the best and strongest live acts in the Country.
On Sunday 26 April 2009, Bliss N Eso became the first Australian hip hop act to perform on Rove, where they performed "Woodstock 2008" and "The Sea Is Rising" to a live television audience broadcast nationally on the Ten Network
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
.
In May 2009 Bliss N Eso received two APRA award nominations in the category, 'Best Urban Works' for "The Sea is Rising" and "Woodstock 2008". On 14 June "Flying Colours" became only the second Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States of America. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music...
album to be certified gold, after being in the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
for 58 weeks. The group's song "Field of Dreams" has also been included on EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
boxing video game Fight Night Round 4
Fight Night Round 4
Fight Night Round 4 garnered positive reaction from critics for its strategic gameplay and strong multiplayer component. The PlayStation 3 version received an 87.89% and an 88% from review aggregate websites GameRankings and MetaCritic respectively...
.
"Basically, EA Australia can submit one track that's Australian for an international game. There hadn't been an Australian track on a release for a while actually and the 'Fight Night' opportunity came about and EA Australia really liked "Field of Dreams" and thought it worked well with the theme of the game, so they put it forward to the International EA and it got accepted! The fact that it's out there and a million people are going to be playing this thing - it's obviously a big game and the fact that our song's on there, we're stoked. It's pretty awesome, man!" - Jonathan Notley
Bliss N Eso released their live album Flying Colours Live in June 2009 to coincide with another national tour of Australia. The album features a bonus track, "On Tour", which has received significant airplay from Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
and includes a DVD, featuring their MTV nominated documentary, 'Out of Africa', and the group's live performance at Sydney's Metro Theatre. Following their national tour they will be working in the recording studio on their fourth studio album, with producers M-Phazes and Hattori Hanzo.
In October 2009 Bliss N Eso became the first Australian hip-hop act to tour the USA. Bliss N Eso embarked on a twenty-one date tour with Canadian hip-hop group, Swollen Members, together with Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
MC BIG B and DJ Klaw. Their tour bus dubbed 'The Black Pearl' was later hit by a train and destroyed while on its way back to California at the end of the tour. Three people were on board but no one was injured.
On 17 May 2010, Bliss N Eso released "Down by the River", the first single off their upcoming fourth studio album, Running on Air. The single premiered on Triple J's "2010" new music show with Richard Kingsmill
Richard Kingsmill
Richard "The King" Kingsmill is an Australian radio announcer and music journalist.He is best known for his work at national youth broadcaster triple j. His career at the station started in 1988 as a producer for station presenters George Wayne, Tracee Hutchison and Tim Ritchie...
the night before. "Down by the River" was the fourth most added track to Australian radio on the weekend of 14 May, which included across the board airplay on Triple J nationally, Nova FM, Hot30 and many other community and commercial radio networks. In July 2010 Bliss N Eso released a free track called "Golden Years", also from Running on Air. Following the release of the single the band embarked on the "Down by the River" tour of Australia with sold out shows in major cities across the country.
On 30 July 2010 Bliss N Eso released their fourth studio album Running on Air
Running On Air
Running on Air is the fourth studio album by the Australian hip hop trio Bliss n Eso. It was released on 30 July 2010. The album debuted at number one in Australia for the week commencing 9 August 2010. It has since been certified Platinum by ARIA...
. The album went straight to number one on the Australian iTunes album chart within minutes of its release. Triple J and Nova FM both featured several tracks from the album in the lead up to its release. The album garnered near perfect reviews across the board, with some even stating that "it may be the genre's finest release" (Time Off).
On 8 August 2010 Bliss N Eso's fourth studio album Running on Air debuted on the Australian ARIA charts at number one. It was the first album to knock Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
off the top spot in 6 weeks and received significant acclaim for this feat. Bliss N Eso also had 2 albums and 3 singles in the Urban charts during this week. Less than 2 weeks after its release, Running on Air was certified Gold in Australia with sales in excess of 35,000. Shortly afterwards, Bliss N Eso embarked their sold-out Down by the River Australian tour, and before long the trio had their first platinum album in Running on Air. The Album went on to receive multiple awards nominations including the Triple J Album of the Year award, Channel V Australian Artist of the Year award, Independent Music Award, Multiple APRA Awards & two ARIA awards.
In late August Bliss n Eso announced they would be heading back over to America. The band teamed up with the legendary Kottonmouth Kings for a 26 date run across the USA. This was the bands 2nd US tour. Bliss n Eso have recently played and been announced for various Australian summer festivals including The Big Day Out, Fat as Butter, Southbound, Full Noise, Another World, Time Out, Groovin The Moo Festival and more.
In June & July 2011 Bliss n Eso set out in the record breaking Running On Air Tour, Performing in front of over 50,000 people including 8,000 fans at their sold Brisbane Riverstage show which was recorded as the highest selling local hip-hop show of all time.
Headline tours
- Back to the Top Snow Tour - Falls/Hotham/Jindabyne/Buller (AUS 2005/2006/2007/2008)
- Flowers in the Pavement Tour - National (AUS 2004)
- Day of the Dog Tour - National (AUS 2006)
- Get Loose Tour - National (AUS2006)
- Unified Tour - National Uni Campuses (AUS 2008)
- Flying Colours Tour - National (AUS 2008)
- Flying Colours Live Tour - National (AUS 2009) - Highest selling Australian hip-hop tour, including 2 sold out shows at Melbourne's iconic Festival Hall.
- Armed to the Teeth USA/Canada Tour (2009)
- Down by the River Tour - National (AUS 2010)
- Running On Air Tour - National (AUS 2011)
Festivals
- Groovin' the Moo - National (2011)
- MS Fest - Tasmania (2011)
- The Big Day Out - National (2011)
- Southbound Festival - Bussleton (2011)
- Full Noise Festival - Townsville (2010)
- Another World U18's Festival - Melbourne (2010)
- MTV Snow Jam Festival - Thredbo (2010)
- Newton's NationNewton's NationNewton's Nation is an annual, gravity-fueled, action sports festival. The inaugural Newton"s Nation was held in the summer of 2008 at , Bathurst, Australia.History200820092010...
Festival - Bathurst (2010) - Stonefest - Canberra (2010)
- Fat as Butter Festival - Newcastle (2010)
- Time Out Festival - Cairns (2010)
- Solar Festival - Melbourne (2010)
- MS Fest - Tasmania (2010)
- Origin Festival - Perth (2010)
- Fresh Fest - Gold Coast(2009)
- Coaster Festival - Central Coast (2009)
- Come Together Festival - Sydney (2009)
- RIPE Noosa - Sunshine Coast (2009)
- Sound Relief - MCG Melbourne (2009)
- Bass in the Grass - Darwin (2009)
- Quicksilver Pro - Duranbah Beach QLD (2009)
- Homebake - The Domain Sydney (2008)
- Trackside - Canberra (2008)
- Southbound - Busselton WA (2008)
- Splendour in the Grass - Byron Bay (2008)
- Dusty Days Festival - Wagga Wagga (2008)
- Oddyssey Festival - Goldcoast (2008)
- Bass in the Dust - Alice Springs (2008)
- Stylewars - Falls Creek (2008)
- Telus World Festival - Whistler Canada (2007)
- Make Poverty History - National (2007)
- The Great Escape - The Barracks Sydney (2007)
- MS Fest - Tasmania (2007)
- Summadayze - Perth (2007)
- Pyramid Rock Festival - Phillip Island Victoria (2007)
- Dusty Days Festival - Wagga Wagga (2007)
- Stylewars - Falls Creek (2007)
- Coastal Vibes (2007)
- Sonic Bloom - Sydney (2007)
- Pushover - Melbourne (2007)
- Narana Festival - Torquay Victoria (2007)
- MS Fest - Tasmania (2006)
- We Love Sounds - Sydney (2006)
- Pyramid Rock Festival - Phillip Island Victoria (2005)
- The Big Day Out - National (2005)
Television
- Angry Boys - music & video usage: episode 3 (2011)
- Hey Hey It's Saturday - album review (2010)
- Dew Tour/Foxtel - music usage (2010)
- Underbelly - music usage episode 8 (2010)
- Rove Live - performance/interview (2009)
- Blokesworld - interview/FMX (2009)
- 9AM show - interview (2008)
- Fuel TV - interview + video game review (2008/2009)
- Channel V - Interview/performance (2006/2008/2009/2010)
- MTV - Interview/performance (2006/2007/2008/2009/2010)
- JTV - Interview/performance (2006/2008)
- Ballistyx Snowboard Show - interview (2008)
- Rage - guest programming (2008)
- Video Hits - interview/snowboarding (2007)
DVDs
- Rhythm and Poetry - Performance/Interview (2007)
- Words from the City - Performance/Interview (2007)
- Flying Colours Live Deluxe Edition - Performance (2009)
- Out of Africa - The MTV Feature Documentary (2008)
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
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| 2004 | Flowers in the Pavement Flowers in the Pavement Flowers in the Pavement is the debut album by Australian hip hop group Bliss n Eso."This Is for You" received airplay on Triple J's Home and Hosed program, which exclusively features Australian music. It was also played on NOVA FM...
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| 2006 | Day of the Dog Day of the Dog -Production:* Bliss * BNAproductions * DJ Hoppa * M-Phazes * Motley * N.U.G. * Rocc * SeFu * Suffa * Trax... Illusive Sounds Illusive Group is an independent Australian record label & touring company that represents a number of acts including Bliss n Eso, Lowrider, Paris Wells, Downsyde, Metals, True Live, Diafrix and X&Hell.-History:... |
45 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Flying Colours
Liberation Music Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process... |
10 |
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... : Gold |
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| 2010 | Running on Air Running On Air Running on Air is the fourth studio album by the Australian hip hop trio Bliss n Eso. It was released on 30 July 2010. The album debuted at number one in Australia for the week commencing 9 August 2010. It has since been certified Platinum by ARIA... |
1 |
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| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||||||
Singles
| Year | Song | AUS | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Up Jumped the Boogie" (featuring Kye) | — | Day of the Dog | |
| "Party at My Place" (featuring Motley) | — | |||
| "Then Till Now" | — | |||
| 2007 | "Bullet and a Target" (featuring Zulu Connection Choir) | 43 | Flying Colours | |
| 2008 | "Woodstock 2008" | — | ||
| "The Sea Is Rising" (featuring John Butler Trio) | — | |||
| 2010 | "Down By the River" | 45 | Flying Colours | |
| "Addicted" | 38 | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not receive certification. | ||||
Compilation appearances
- Culture Of Kings (song: "Lyrical Wilderness") (2002) (Australia) Obese RecordsObese RecordsObese Records is an Australian hip hop record label. It is the largest Australian independent Hip-Hop label, a retail store and a touring and record distribution company.-History:...
- Empirical Records Present... 'Straight from the Art (2003), Warner Music (Australia) (song: "Greenhouse")
- Triple J Hip Hop Show (2005), ABC Music (song: "This Is for You")
- Triple J Home and Hosed—Bangin' n Breedin (2006), ABC Music (song: "Then Till Now")
- Triple J Hottest 100 Vol. 16 (2009) ABC Music (song: "Eye Of The Storm")
- Good Gracious (song: "Walk On Clouds") Obese Records (2010)
Nominations
- 2006 ARIA AwardARIA Music Awards of 2006The 20th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex...
- Best Urban Release - Day of the Dog - 2007 ARIA AwardARIA Music Awards of 2007The 21st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 28 October 2007 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Rove McManus was the host of the event...
- Best Urban Release - Day of the Dog: Phazed Out - 2008 MTV Video Music AwardsMTV Australia Awards 2008The MTV Australia Awards 2008 is the new title for the Australian MTV Awards previously known as the MTV Australia Video Music Awards. The show was held at Sydney's Australian Technology Park in Redfern on 26 April 2008 and aired live on MTV Australia and Fox8 on the Foxtel, Austar and Optus...
- Good Karma Award - 2008 J AwardJ AwardThe J Award is an award given by influential Australian youth radio station Triple J to Australian Album of the Year. It is judged by a panel of members of the music industry, led by Richard Kingsmill...
- Flying Colours - 2008 Channel V Oz Artist of the Year
- 2009 MTV Video Music AwardsMTV Australia Awards 2009The Vodafone MTV Australia Awards 2009 is the fifth annual MTV Awards show from MTV Australia. The Awards were held on 27 March 2009 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney.-Background information:...
- Best Independent - 2009 APRA AwardsAPRA AwardsThe APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
- Best Urban Work - "Woodstock 2008" - 2009 APRA Awards - Best Urban Work - "Sea is Rising"
- 2010 APRA AWARDS - Best Urban Work - "On Tour"
- 2010 ARIA Awards - Best Urban Release - Running on Air
- 2010 ARIA Awards - Best DVD - Flying Colours
- 2010 AIR Awards - Best Single - "Down by the River"
- 2010 Triple J Awards - Album of the Year - Running on Air
- 2010 Channel V Oz Artist of the Year (Top 4)
- 2011 APRA Awards - Best Urban Work
Awards
- 2003 Musicoz Awards - Best Urban Artist
- 2004 Musicoz Awards - Best Urban Artist
- 2008 ARIA AwardARIA Music Awards of 2008The 22nd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 19 October 2008...
- Best Urban Release - Flying Colours - 2008 Desktop Create Award - Best Packaging Design - Flying Colours
- 2010 EG Award - Best Band
External links
- Official website
- Rapcella Artist Profile - Bliss n Eso
- http://www21.sbs.com.au/alchemy/index.php?pg=ct&ct=1&sc=2&id=634Bliss n Eso Interview on Alchemy SBS RadioSBS RadioSBS Radio is a service provided by the Special Broadcasting Service '..to inform, educate and entertain Australians, especially those of non-English speaking backgrounds'. SBS Radio originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded information about the...
2008 ] - Bliss n Eso Interview on Style43 (June 2007)
- Breezy Music News - Flying Colours Review 2008