OzAsia review: The Mixed-Race Tape
Hip-hop artist Kultar Ahluwalia shines as an insightful and poignant wordsmith in this homage to Adelaide, multicultural heritage and positive masculinity.
Kultar Ahluwalia’s world premiere of this poignantly earnest autobiographical show supports his latest musical release of the same name, The Mixed-Race Tape.
Ahluwalia shines a light on the multiculturalism of his heritage, Punjabi Sikh on his father’s side and Irish Catholic on his mother’s, tracking through both his own journey and that of his family. Along the way he comes to terms with his identity and dismantles the mask of ego that most MCs can get caught wearing.
To put it plainly, The Mixed-Race Tape is the most nuanced and dynamic hip-hop gig this reviewer has ever seen. The soft use of lighting, the live acoustic piano versions of certain songs, and the projected scene-scapes that reflect the journey Ahluwalia takes us on combine effortlessly to enthral hearts and stoke introspection.
Ahluwalia is a powerfully engaging MC and performer, stripping away the toxic misogyny that can be rife in the world of rap and instead showing a more conscious side as he raps about topics like family, love and values.
As an artist based in south Adelaide, he loads his songs and poetry with enough local references to fill up the Malls Balls 10 times over, with some of his beats resembling the more lo-fi downtempo offerings from the Hilltop Hoods’ first two albums. His voice is melodic, powerfully dynamic and wholly of himself. There are no strange affectations or accents, no masks and no ego. Just Ahluwalia’s truth.
You might like
He effortlessly weaves anecdotes, poems and bangers into an emotionally charged finale. You know it’s an Adelaide gig when not only does the Seaford train line get a cheer, the 5.17pm express to home gets one, too. Ahluwalia, unlike the Hilltop Hoods, does not stop at all stations.
Sometimes the train is the only harbour of time where Ahluwalia – a busy family man and occupational therapist – can write. The locomotion engages and mobilises the mind. (And as art reflects life in a never-ending dance of symmetry, I myself am writing this on a Seaford train.)
The Mixed-Race Tape works incredibly well as a theatrical show, utilising old photos and family videos to tell Ahluwalia’s story in an authentic way. The performance is humble and sincere, and beautifully honours the themes of his values: Family, Culture and Legacy. It is difficult not to be moved by a work so consciously insightful and resonant with the diaspora of many.
If you are unable to make it to the second live performance, do yourself a favour and dive deep into Ahluwalia’s new EP.
Kultar Ahluwalia will present The Mixed-Race Tape at Nexus Arts again on November 2 as part of the 2024 OzAsia Festival. The Mixed-Race Tape EP is available to stream on Bandcamp.