'No point pretending': Korean-Australian hip-hop group 1300 on why they rap bilingually

Releasing music in Korean and English, 1300’s members say they are just doing what’s ‘most honest and natural’.

Korean-Australian hip-hop grouup 1300 Source: Supplied / 1300

Key Points

• 1300 are a hip-hop group based in Western Sydney comprising five members: rako, goyo, DALI HART, Nerdie and pokari.sweat
• Rapping bilingually is about ‘presenting ourselves more naturally,’ Nerdie says
• The group will perform at the OzAsia festival in Adelaide on 4 November

Their tracks may ring out on the Australian airwaves, but this Western Sydney collective says that was never their aim.

Meet 1300, the bilingual group reshaping Australia’s rap game.

Their name - pronounced one-three-hundred - was plucked from a random hotline number spotted on a wall.

Through their music, too, they’ve shown an ability to connect with audiences – even those who don’t understand the lyrics.

Sounds over words

It’s been a relatively quick rise to recognition.

The group’s three rappers - rako, goyo and DALI HART - and two producers - Nerdie and pokari.sweat - have been recording together since 2021.

Last year, Triple J introduced the group as an Unearthed feature artist.

When K-Pop band Stray Kids' member Bangchan recommended 1300's music to his fanbase, their YouTube channel was inundated with international listeners.

Recently they were nominated for Sydney independent youth broadcaster FBi’s SMAC awards for Best Video and Record of the Year 2022.

Korean-Australian hip-hop group 1300

Their music combines fast-paced lyricism and production that draws on a global array of genres and cultures.

While at least half the lyrics are delivered in Korean, producer Nerdie says general Australian listeners don’t seem to mind.

"I think they mainly are feeling the rhythm and beats of the songs. It's very rhythmic music, and the rapping sort of accentuates the rhythm of it," he says.

They're not so much listening to the words as like the sound of the voice. And sometimes they sing along to some of the words even though they don't know what they mean. It's catchy.

1300's Nerdie

‘It’s what’s most honest’

The members of 1300 say they never considered just recording in English, though some people have suggested they do so.

From the beginning, we didn't make music targeting Australian radio. We just made music we all liked.

1300's Nerdie

"We just made music we all liked, but that turned out well. So we didn't think about adding more English at all," Goyo says.

Having grown up in Sydney's western suburbs, they say rapping in English and Korean is just a reflection of their daily lives.

"I think we just do what's most natural and what's most honest for us because otherwise, we would just be pretending," Nerdie says.

Korean-Australian Hip-hop group 1300 Source: Supplied / 1300

While three of the band members attended the same high school, they didn’t cross paths until 2020.

Having had similar experiences growing up and listening to K-Pop from an early age, they enjoyed an “instant bond”.

"We met at a listening party for our friend Yura, who's also Korean and makes music, and then we just started making music. We sort of understood each other from the beginning," Nerdie says.

I don't actually believe in religion, but I thought for a moment that I should, as it was a bit too fateful.

1300's rako

After that, they met up at pocari's studio, where they recorded three songs in only five to six hours.

‘Being ourselves and being accepted’

The group’s work process is quite intuitive.

In the studio, Pocari and Nerdie make the beats from scratch and, with that foundation, the three rappers start to write.

"We never think that we have to write this part in English or we have to write this part in Korean. It's more like in terms of expressing whatever we want to express,” explains Goyo.

Sometimes I guess Korean would work better when we write a certain phrase or a certain line, but sometimes vice versa, English might work better. That's just how it works

1300's Goyo

Lyrically there are overt Korean pop culture references, like a song named after Park Chan-wook's 2003 film ‘Oldboy’, as well as moments of self-reflection.

In their track 'Foreign Language', released in April, they rap of breaking language barriers.

"It's a song about us. People in Australia think we are foreigners because we speak a foreign language. In Korea, we are also treated like foreigners because we came from Australia,” roko says.

Korean-Australian hip-hop group 1300 Source: Supplied / 1300

The two producers, Nerdie and pocari, were born in Australia, while the rappers all came to Australia before the age of 10.

They all speak fluent English, but rako says they feel a great deal of personal acceptance when audiences embrace their bilingual music.

“I grew up in Perth where it felt like there weren’t many Asians. I had to try so hard to get along with Caucasian friends.”

"But since I moved to Sydney and met the other 1300 members, even if we don't have to put in a lot of effort to get along, we feel a sense of accomplishment and feel so good that we are being accepted naturally," rako adds.

Nerdie says that being Korean-Australian is quite separate to being either Korean or Australian. And he’s just happy people are willing to accept their music.

Back in high school, I wouldn't have thought this was possible. But it's good that it is, and that Korean culture is being accepted. So yeah, we're quite grateful.

1300's Nerdie

On 4 November, 1300 will perform at the OzAsia festival in Adelaide supporting South Korea's alternative pop sensation LEENALCHI.