Australia’s Highest Viewed YouTube Rapper Kerser is independent. With over 55 million views and over 100k subscribers, he is a unique force to be reckoned with. Coming up to such national prominence with little-to-no mainstream radio play, Kerser is the most successful rapper in Australia that has built a legion of fans primarily throughout social media and battle rap. His most recent album released last month “Tradition” went #1 on both the Australia Urban Chart as well as the overall Australian album chart.
Born and bred in Campbelltown in South-Western Sydney, Kerser started rapping at 11 and began recording when he has 18. He began by pressing up his own independent mixtapes, gaining notoriety locally. He developed his south-west Sydney buzz through more localised battle rap before taking the national battle rap scene at Got Beef by storm and exploded from there, most notably through his battles with Australia artist 360 and former Scribble Jam / WRC Champ Illmaculate.
Citing his favourite rappers including Fabolous, TI, Lil Wayne, Tupac, Nas, 50 Cent, Biggie and Eminem, Kerser’s music touches on a different side of Australian society that much of the commercially accessible and pushed locally made hip hop on radio fails to address – the lower and underclass, the often down trodden, pigeon-holed as hopeless suburbanites littered throughout Australia in the middle and outer suburbs. His self-described street rap brings a very different tale away from the pop-infused hip hop littered with catchy chorus’s touching on less prevalent issues such as drugs, crime, and other relevant issues.
His success has continued on the up since releasing his debut album in 2011 with producer and friend Nebs and shows no sign of slowing down. Through Warner Music, Kerser has developed his own record label ABK Records, which has also released his brother and long time emcee collaborator Rates’ Untold album earlier this year. Kerser has long talked of releasing 10 albums in 10 years and is on track with 6 from 6 so far. Kerser has left the door open for a return to battle rap, but one feels it will take quite to opponent to lure him back into the battle rap world now that his albums and tours are proving to be so successful.
