Why Spit Syndicate Only Need One Wardrobe

Sydney duo Spit Syndicate, members of the super-crew One Day, chose a fun title for their fourth album — One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly. But, beneath the rockin' beats, it reveals profound subject matter.

"The title stems from a teenage ritual, or custom of sorts, that we had when we were growing up — but it's by no means unique to us," explains MC Nick Lupi. "Basically, if one of our friends or somebody in our crew had a particularly fly item of clothing — a shirt, a jacket, a pair of kicks — then we would take turns in rocking it. Everyone would share these items of clothing around in a collective effort for everybody to shine."

Lupi and co-rapper Jimmy Nice signed to Obese for 2008's debut Towards The Light — which received an ARIA nom. In 2014 — over a year after their third outing, Sunday Gentlemen — they enjoyed unprecedented crossover success with One Day's Mainline. But, now in their late 20s, Spit Syndicate found themselves reflecting on those years of sharing get-up.

"In the last couple of years, this One Day crew thing that we've been really flying the flag for has reinforced this ethos of: if one person shines, then we're all shining."

Today they're less impressionable, and less materialistic, but the communalism remains. "It's been a big part of this album coming together, in terms of it being such a collaborative record. I guess, in the last couple of years, this One Day crew thing that we've been really flying the flag for has reinforced this ethos of: if one person shines, then we're all shining." Still, Lupi says, hip hop is about competition — and Spit Syndicate have been spurred on by their homies' artistic achievements.

Importantly, One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly has a figurative aspect, with Spit Syndicate redefining what constitutes "fly" — challenging the (self-)destructive "toxic masculinity" underlying modern Australian culture. Says Lupi, "We kind of feel a bit of a responsibility, in some ways, to kick some game."

One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly is bold musically — transcending boom bap. In fact, it was influenced by the fluid vibe of the One Day Sundays parties. Above all, Spit Syndicate followed their instincts, rather than calculatedly cutting, say, radio songs. Providing beats are Styalz Fuego, Horrorshow's Adit, Sticky Fingers' Freddy Crabs, and Left.'s Jono Graham. However, Lupi jokes, Spit Syndicate were hands-on as "backseat" producers. "There was no picking a beat off a beat tape for this record."

Again, Spit Syndicate approached friends to guest. One Day's Solo and Joyride blaze the single Hold On Me. Remi shows on the deeply groovy Houdini, which, produced by Styalz, sounds like Kaytranada joining A Tribe Called Quest. "We were fans of Remi a couple of years ago and then we became friends with him to the point that, when he would come up to Sydney, he was crashing at my place." Other 'features' include Thelma Plum and the Indigenous power-soulster Radical Son.

If Spit Syndicate's presser touts One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly as their "definitive work", then Lupi calls it "an arrival". "I feel like everything that we've done — all of the ups and the downs, and the triumphs and the failures, have led us to this particular point." He adds, "It is us at our sharpest; at our flyest."