Australian-born wordsmith Dialekt has released his free street album, ‘The Art Of Drive’, with new material he declares will address the stigma some local rappers receive because of their accent.

“If you don't sound a certain way, you're put into a different box,” Dialekt says. “So I address that on a track with Loc from Sydney called ‘The Perspective’; we've dealt with that our whole careers and we just address it from the way we see it from an intelligent point-of-view as opposed to coming out in an angry way.”

The 27-year-old was born in Darwin, but raised on the American island of Guam and it’s there where his love for hip hop grew.

“Well I started when I was about 11. What I started doing was I'd get a tape cassette and I used to write out lyrics from other artists and I'd just listen to the tape and write the lyrics out five or six times until I got each word right.
“The first record I ever did that with was a Coolio record, 'Gangsta’s Paradise', and [I] pretty much wrote that out six or seven times until I learned every part of it. Then I would just perform it in my lounge room. From then it's been like I've had this undying passion for it and it's been going strong since then.”

‘The Art Of Drive’ was the result of countless hours in the studio working at full throttle.

“We've been working really hard towards it, so it's actually been about two months in the studio straight just recording it, doing four records at a time. We've definitely put a lot of effort into it.”
Dialekt attributes the Bryan Cranston film ‘Drive’ as an inspiration for the title track of the album, even sampling the ‘Breaking Bad’ actor.

“I didn't really have a name for the album that really summed up the time bracket, so I saw it and I heard this sample from the movie about how this guy found 'The Driver' and he's unlike anybody else.
“It's actually a metaphor when I say 'The Art Of Drive' to how hard we've worked and the whole grind behind things, so basically I just wanted the whole album to be a walking, talking metaphor.”
 
‘The Art Of Drive’ Is Available Digitally Now.