AmuThaMC has made his dreams a reality: he’s made music a full-time career, taking care of his family and doing it all on his terms. But none of it surprises him. As the Brisbane rapper tells Complex AU, he’s worked for this, and now he and his peers are reaping the rewards.
The latest might just be the sweetest yet—starring in a JD Sports campaign with New Balance alongside A.GIRL and his brother, fellow rapper Nokz. The campaign has seen his picture up in lights across Australia and New Zealand and has reached swathes of proud friends and family.
It’s a far cry from growing up in Forest Lake, Brisbane, an area Amu describes as “Not like a hood area, but not a nice area.” In the span of two decades, Amu has gone from writing poetry outside of his local supermarket to rocking a festival stage with his brother, growing from being an upstart of his city’s hip-hop scene to one of its elder statesmen.
Amu would fire his first shot on the national stage way back in 2016, responding to an industry-wide diss from MLBRN to spark a back-and-forth. After nearly half a decade out of the spotlight, Amu resurfaced in 2020 with “Some Nights,” a sonic shift that saw the emcee pair lyricism with melody. It set the table for a run of hits, the most prominent being “My Team,” a raucous all-in anthem that’s since racked up upwards of a million streams and solidified Amu as one of the Brisbane scene’s most beloved veterans.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2024, Amu is ready to get busy. He’s launching a new era. In a conversation with Complex AU, Amu discussed the evolution of his sound, his family, and his most memorable show.
How did you start making music?
I’ve been writing music since I was 11 or 12. I used to write outside on a milk crate at the local FoodWorks. People would see me and they always thought I was crazy. Friends will tell me, “Man, we used to think you were a dreamer,” but I’m glad I stuck at it. Obviously, I’m one of the oldest in the scene. I’m 30. So I was making music before a lot of these artists—it was all I wanted to do.
With my brother Nokz, he was very talented from the start. He’s gifted at anything he does because he’s that type of person—he finds a way of getting stuff done, whereas for me, music has always been my only focus.
