'WAR WITH CHINA' is the full length, collaborative album from Sydney's own BAYANG (tha Bushranger) and Nerdie. The release follows the 2023 post-punk, nightcrawler double-single, 'DEXAMPHETAMINE / GHOLA', and a joint venture on Triple J's Bars of Steel. Here, the duo embark on a journey of even further sonic degradation.
Although ostensibly a collaboration rooted in hip-hop, 'WAR WITH CHINA' grabs the cultural alienation of the antipodes with both hands. Rather than adding to the chorus of australian voices yelling "US TOO!", BAYANG and Nerdie situate their release more firmly within the ugly, homegrown lineage of gutter rap and Sydney sleaze.
Broadcasting live from a society in decay, 'WAR WITH CHINA' is a release framed by its context of nationalist reaction, downward social mobility and a city that gets hotter by the day. Through invoking artists like Jai Paul, M.I.A., Rowland S Howard and Black Kray, the release reaches out to the ghosts in the margins, behind the sheen and beyond the curtain. This one goes out to everyone in touch with the rot.