Hilltop Hoods Honoured With City of Music Laneway
City of Adelaide will rename Clubhouse Lane off Hindley Street as Hilltop Hoods Lane.
Image Ashlee Jones
Australian hip hop icons Hilltop Hoods are the latest South Aussie act to be honoured with a City of Music laneway.
City of Adelaide will rename Clubhouse Lane off Hindley Street as Hilltop Hoods Lane.
The honour sees the Hoods become the sixth local homegrown sensation to have a lane named after them, joining SA greats Sia Furler, Cold Chisel, No Fixed Address, Paul Kelly and The Angels.
Emerging from Blackwood in the late ‘90s, the trio of Suffa (Matthew David Lambert), Pressure (Daniel Howe Smith) and DJ Debris (Barry John M. Francis) – who replaced DJ Next (Ben John Hare) in 1999 – have forged a hugely successful career that’s seen them sell out arenas across the globe, achieve seven #1 ARIA albums and take home ten ARIA Awards.
Lord Mayor of Adelaide Dr Jane Lomax-Smith said the new laneway was a fitting tribute to Hilltop Hoods. “From playing gigs at the Worldsend Hotel and Adelaide UniBar to performing in front of crowds of 50,000 adoring fans, hip-hop royalty Hilltop Hoods have helped reinforce a familiar Adelaide truth - that great talent starts local and can reach audiences across the globe,” said the Lord Mayor.
“While they have entertained millions with their music, they have also shown young musicians cutting their teeth in South Australia that they too can end up on the Triple J Hottest 100 and play some of the biggest stages across the world.
“It seemed fitting to add the band to our cavalcade of City of Music Laneways as they prepare to shake stages across the country, with their current national arena tour underway this month.”
Hilltop Hoods’ member Suffa said the group are honoured to become part of Adelaide’s City of Music laneways alongside so many iconic South Australian artists, commenting, “We love our city and this gesture just connects us even further to the place that we call home.”
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The naming of Hilltop Hoods Lane comes after the trio just completed their biggest tour of Australia, performing eight arena shows in support of their ninth studio album, Fall From the Light.
Undeniably one of SA’s great acts, the Hoods’ latest album was produced by One Above, with additional work by Sesta and Suffa, and includes collaborations with Kiwi group SIX60 and Australian songstress Nyassa.
“This album has been an exercise in patience. Six years is a long time between albums, but there’s a good reason for that. There was a lot happening, in the world and in our lives. But it turns out (from my perspective anyway), that time was the albums strength, not its weakness,” explains Suffa.
Pressure adds, “We really took our time with this one. We put more years into it than any other of our albums because we wanted it to be our best work to date. Putting it out after so long feels more monumental and exciting than ever.”
Hilltop Hoods Lane will be officially unveiled later this year. Keep up to date with Hilltop Hoods here.
