Presenting Bars for Bars, a competition to find Australia's best undiscovered rapper

Header image by Sophie Hill for Best Before.

Over the last few years, we've seen a plethora of Australian rappers rise through the ranks and blossom into country-wide favourites, whether it's newcomers breaking out via high-tier debut singles, or long-time underdogs that are just beginning to capture national attention (and, in almost all the cases, it's been a long time coming). It's something to be really excited too, with Australia's hip-hop scene - often seen as somewhat of a laughing joke to those unfamiliar with its depth - being revitalised and energised by new additions who make it a more exciting and diverse place.

Alt. Music Group is a Melbourne-based company that has helped some of these rappers capture their fame, with musicians such as Kaiit - who along with Sampa The Great last year, was one of the first women to win an ARIA Award in a hip-hop-centric category - calling the organisation home. They've been long-time supports and hard workers behind-the-scenes of Australian hip-hop, and have been front and centre as the scene has grappled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has all but decimated the live music realm this scene often thrives upon.

Now, they're hoping to give back, launching Bars for Bars - a competition designed to unearth, spotlight and amplify musicians from across Australia in the hip-hop and R&B realms. It's a competition designed to inspire diversity and uniqueness; with artists having the month of July to share their work to the world in the hopes of winning over $5000 worth of prizes, which will be judged by people who are often found behind-the-scenes of Australian hip-hop's biggest moments: major labels A&Rs, artist managers, artists and plenty more included.

To enter, you have to be over 16-years-old and based in Australia, and from there, you just have to upload a video of you rapping or singing over a production of your choice, which then needs to be uploaded onto Instagram with some guidelines in place to keep it nice and easy (you can find all those below). The competition's first round kicks off today and runs until Thursday, with voting to take place over the weekend. Then, there'll be another two rounds, with the finalists of all three to then enter the fourth round, which will discover the winner.

You can find all the prizes and guidelines below, but other than that, follow Alt. Music Group on Instagram to keep up to date.

Bars For Bars Video Upload Requirements: 

All videos submitted for the final week of the competition must adhere to the following rules:

- Videos must be taken in portrait mode (NO LANDSCAPE VIDEOS).
- Video is capped at 1 MINUTE.
- Make sure you have adequate lighting.
- To enter, you need to tag @altmusicgroup and #barsforbars.

Dates (all times in AEST): 

Round 1 (Posted on Sunday, 5th July 2020):

Monday, 6th July 9am: Competition begins
Thursday, 9th July 8pm: Round 1 closes
Friday, 10th July 7pm: Top 6 announced, audience voting opens
Sunday, 12th July 6pm: Top 2 announced

Round 2 (Posted on Sunday, 12th July 2020):

Monday, 13th July 9am: Competition begins
Thursday, 16th July 8pm: Round 2 closes
Friday, 17th July 7pm: Top 6 announced, audience voting opens
Sunday, 19th July 6pm: Top 2 announced

Round 3 (Posted on Sunday, 19th July 2020):

Monday, 20th July 9am: Competition begins
Thursday, 23rd July 8pm: Round 1 closes
Friday, 24th July 7pm: Top 6 announced, audience voting opens

Finals (Posted on Sunday, 26th July 2020):

Sunday, 26th 6pm: Top 6 finalists revealed. Submissions open for finalists
Monday, 27th July 11:59pm: Submissions close
Tuesday 28th July 12pm: Voting opens
Sunday 2nd August 6pm: Winners announced

Prizes: 

1st Place:

- $1000 cash from Hennessy
- $500 Ellesse clothing voucher
- $2000 Single Release Package from Alt. Music Group’s Artist Services
- Beats headphones and speakers

2nd Place:

- $500 Ellesse clothing voucher
- Beats headphones

3rd/4th/5th/6th finalists:

- Beats headphones

Follow Alt. Music Group: FACEBOOK