Laneway: Ratking - hip hop heirs

Ratking are performing at Laneway 2015.

They're one of 2014's hottest new rap acts, and they'll be heating up Laneway by performing inside a silo. Chris Schulz talks to New York rap trio Ratking.

Scuzzy, scratchy, and incredibly hazy - that's the phone connection TimeOut is struggling with as we attempt to talk to rappers Ratking in their New York Studio.

It's also an apt description for the trio's brand of punk-rap, a style reminiscent of early Beastie Boys which saw them labelled one of 2014's best new hip-hop acts thanks to their debut album So It Goes.

"It put dope people in arms reach and allowed us time to develop even more, and that's all you can ask for," says co-frontman Wiki about their debut. "My friends like it, and when we go places, people seem to like it." With beats created by Ratking's progressive producer Sporting Life, and blistering verses by Wiki and fellow rapper Hak, So It Goes was described as "unrelenting and abrasive" by The Guardian.

*FIND THE 2015 LANEWAY MAP AND TIMETABLE HERE*

Rolling Stone said: "Wiki's flow is like a paint gun blasting out beautiful graffiti; Hak's warm hooks balance it all out." It owes a huge debt to Nas' classic 1994 debut Illmatic, in that it details New York street life at every turn. "Sense of a city that you breath / What a mess but yet you continue to feed" is Hak's hook on their single Canal.

"If somebody looks at us as a New York group and that's how they come across us and it brings them enjoyment and entertainment then being part of 'The New York sound' is a good thing, explains Wiki. Sporting Life continues: "There are kids who aren't into New York hip-hop who f*** with us. Some people are like, 'This shit is so hard, the beats and verses are so ill,' and other people like it for other reasons. Whatever avenue that brings you to it, it's all good. It's just beats and bars."

At Laneway, Ratking will perform much of So It Goes and material from their earlier EP Wiki93. They're also promising songs from a "completely different" new album due out later this year.

They'll be playing at 8.35pm to just 500-odd punters who manage to squeeze inside the Thunderdome and it could be dangerous - Ratking's shows are known for being events that can "get out of hand".

"The live show has a lot of elements of punk - it can be really high energy," says Sporting Life.

"Sometimes we get punched in the face," adds Wiki, "Some little fights might break out, but we always stop and say, 'Hey, don't f*** up the show'. If girls get elbowed in the face we're like, 'Nah, chill'. Nobody's left bleeding after any of our shows.

"Don't get the wrong impression: mothers who want to give their 18-year-old son a ticket, do it. Our shows are a safe working environment."

Who: Ratking
Where: Laneway, Thunderdome, 8.35pm
Also: Debut album So It Goes, out now

• TimeOut has five double passes to Laneway to give away. To enter, simply head to our Facebook page and tell us who you're most excited to see. Winners will be drawn Friday, January 23 at 5pm. Tickets will be emailed to winners ahead of Monday's event.

- TimeOut