Warrang/Sydney based Korean rap supergroup, 1300 (pronounced one-three-hundred) have taken the Australian music scene by storm with their short yet expansive discography. With it, they combine the raw energy, emotion and creativity of internet hosted rap music with the high budget, glitz and glamour of K-hip-hop, all packaged with electronic fused sweat-doused instrumentals.

Following their breakthrough March single, 'No Caller iD', the group have returned with yet another banger, this time by way of 'Smashmouth'. The track showcases rappers rako, goyo, DALI HART, producer-singer Nerdie, and producer pokari.sweat's unmatchable chemistry, creating a heavenly "clusterfuck" of incredible energy. With 'Smashmouth', they mould genres of trap fused hip hop and an electronic house bridge beneath multi-lingual vocal performances.

There's lots going on and we are loving every second of it. To wrap our heads and their quickly growing audience around the infectious chaos that is 1300, we put a couple of questions to each member, highlighting their respective roles and passions surrounding the project.

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rako

How did you meet the group/become involved?

Me, goyo and DALI HART knew from another Sydney’s Korean artist collective called Aisleland. From our collective, our friend Yura started working with pokari and Nerdie for her EP. So in her EP listening party we got to know our producers. After awhile, all three rappers including me started hitting them up to crave some nice beats. Then they invited us to their studio, we made some good stuff real quick. I believe it was meant-to-be.

What creative skills do you bring to the group?

I do vocals, make some graphics and eat a lot.

What does 1300 mean to you?

God’s plan. Lol. Friends with same interest. People who lets me keep create without getting sick of it. They inspire me, encourage me, helps me and feed me.

What impact do you want 1300 to have?

Stay positive, create stuff and enjoy life.

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A post shared by rako***** (@raaakoh)

goyo

How did you meet the group/become involved?

I initially met DALI and rako when we formed a collective called “aisleland”. One of the members, Yura, and I made a song called “All You” and we wanted to make a music video. Nerdie, who is a part of a video company called “Videoheads” was interested to help us make the video. We all got really close after the video was finished and one day Nerdie invited us to pokari.sweat’s studio session. The rest is history.

What creative skills do you bring to the group?

I mostly rap and give out random facts about random things.

What does 1300 mean to you?

An empty palette that allows us to freely create whatever we want.

What impact do you want 1300 to have?

I want us to be the “Dream Team”.

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A post shared by goyo (@goyo_in_silence)

DALI HART

How did you meet the group/become involved?

i was part of another Sydney based Korean artist collective called “Aisleand” which me, rako, goyo, Yura and madebywho was in it. We all went to Yura’s EP listening party and we met Nerdie, Pokari.sweat who helped Yura’s EP. We shared our music and we all vibed with each other so we decided to work together having one studio session, but it happened every week and naturally became a team :)

What creative skills do you bring to the group?

I do vocals, dance, and some choreography

What does 1300 mean to you?

Motivation, Inspiration, good people that i met in my life

What impact do you want 1300 to have?

Positive energy, good music, cool kids

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Nerdie

How did you meet the group/become involved?

I met Pokari through our friend Yura, when he came to my old apartment to work on beats. I then ran into the other boys after listening to their music on soundcloud and we decided to hit the studio.

What creative skills do you bring to the group?

I do what needs to be done

What does 1300 mean to you?

Freedom to do what we want

What impact do you want 1300 to have?

Change the game for K-POP

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A post shared by 虎狼 (@nerdiecuzz)

pokari.sweat

How did you meet the group/become involved?

Early last year (2020) I produced a track for a friend’s ep, Yura, in that ep Nerdie was also involved and that's how we first noticed each other, from there we started talking and hanging out. Around the same time I had begun renting out a studio space and invited Nerdie over to help with some tracks. It was then that he suggested that we invite these korean boys (1300) over for a session, we all surprisingly got along real well and it was then that me and Nerdie both decided to join 1300.

What creative skills do you bring to the group?

I produce and so does Nerdie

What does 1300 mean to you?

Genuine fun friends

What impact do you want 1300 to have?

For others to go create something with their friends