Robert Alan Hunter (1 October 1975 – 20 October 2011), better known as Hunter or Huntz, was an Australian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and hip hop artist. He was a founder of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

's hip hop scene in the 1990s and a member of the MC collective Syllabolix (SBX) Crew. During his career, he released four albums: ''Done DL'' (2002), ''Going Back to Yokine'' (2006), ''Monster House'' (2010) and ''Fear and Loathing'' (2011). Hunter died of

neuroendocrine cancer Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems. They most commonly occur in the intestine, where they are often called carcinoid tumors, but they are also found in the pancreas, lun ...

in 2011 at the age of 36. He was post-humously inducted into the

Western Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...

Hall of Fame and was the subject of a documentary titled ''Hunter: For the Record'' ( see below) which recorded the final years of his life. The anniversary of his death was commemorated by an "AUS All Star" gig and an inaugural Australian rules match, named the Robert Hunter Cup in his honour, both events which brought together members of the hip hop community from across Australia ( see below).

Biography

Early life

Robert Alan Hunter was born on 1 October 1975 and grew up in Yokine, a Perth suburb, with his father, Bob, his mother, Trish, and his sister, Simonne. He was known for writing raps about his home and life.

Career

In the 1990s Hunter emerged as a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

MC and hip hop artist. Hunter, and fellow Perth-based hip hop artists, established the MC collective Syllabolix (SBX) Crew. In 2002, Hunter's song "Jam Roll", produced by

Optamus Scott Griffiths, better known by the stage name Optamus, is one of the MCs of the Perth, Western Australia, Perth-based Australian Hip hop music, hip-hop group Downsyde and member of WA's Syllabolix Crew. Optamus is also the name of Griffiths' s ...

, was included on the

Obese Records Obese Records was a record label that released music from the Australian hip hop genre. It was the largest Australian independent hip hop label, including performers Pegz, Thundamentals and Dialectrix. Obese Records also operated two retail st ...

compilation, ''Culture of Kings Volume 2''. In the same year, his song "Wake Up" was included on the Obese compilation ''Obesecity''. On 10 May 2002, Hunter's first album, ''Done DL'', was released in collaboration with Downsyde's

Dazastah Dazastah is one of the MCs of the Perth, Western Australia-based hip-hop group Downsyde. History Dazastah (Darren Reutens) joined Downsyde when he met MCs Optamus (Scott Griffiths) and Dyna-mikes (Shahbaz Rind) at Leederville TAFE in the late 1 ...

on the Syllabolix label via Obese Records. In 2006, Hunter and his partner, Laura, became the parents of a son, Marley. On 1 June 2006, his second album, ''Going Back to Yokine'', followed. His song, "The Big Issue", was released on the 2006 ''Kiss my WAMi'' audio CD and audio jukebox DVD for the 2006

West Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...

Festival after he was nominated for an award that year. His next album, ''Monster House'' was issued in 2010, he collaborated with Sydney-based DJ Vame. Hunter's fourth album, ''Fear and Loathing'' – with SBX member Roy Mortimer aka Mortar – was issued in May 2011.

Personal life

Cancer Diagnosis

In November 2009 Hunter was diagnosed with terminal

. He wrote: "I was diagnosed with cancer. Neuroendocrine tumours on the pancreas with metastasis to liver... I was devo'd of course as this is pretty much a death sentence." The news generated support from the Australian hip hop community and, in November 2010, a charity eBay auction was organised by fellow MCs, Bias B and Len One called ''Heat 4 Huntz'' to raise money to help Hunter and his son.

Death

Hunter died of his cancer on 20 October 2011, aged 36. In August, one of Hunter's last live shows was at the Railway Hotel, with Mortar, performing the entire ''Fear and Loathing'' album. At the time of his death, Hunter was working on a charity album in support of youth cancer organisation,

CanTeen {{Primary sources, date=February 2007 Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...

. The album, ''Australian Hip Hop Supports CanTeen'', was released on 2 December 2011, and completed with the help of fellow SBX crew member, Dazastah. It includes songs from Hunter, Hilltop Hoods,

Drapht Paul Reid, formerly Paul Gary James Ridge, (born 4 September 1982), better known by the stage name Drapht, is an Australian hip hop artist from Perth. Drapht is a member of the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, a collective that includes fellow Perth-base ...

, Downsyde,

Koolism ''Koolism'' is an Australian hip hop duo originating from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The members are lyricist Hau Latukefu (born Langomi-e-Hau Latukefu, 1976, Queanbeyan, Australia) and producer/DJ/musician Danielsan Ichiban (born ...

, Bias B and Hermitude. Hunter is survived by his 5-year-old son, Marley, his partner, Laura, his mother, Trish, and his sister, Simonne.

Faith

As expressed in his song ''I asked God'' from the album ''Bring it All Back'', Hunter was a Christian, although not much regarding his faith is known.

Legacy

Influence

Hunter was an influence on Australian hip hop artists such as Drapht, who had been included on Hunter's 2002 ''Done DL'' album, after writing raps secretly "for three or four months" and showing them to Hunter. Hunter had been in Drapht's sister's class at school, and Drapht had seen him perform at the Hyde Park Hotel along with Dazastah and Downsyde. Drapht helped raise funds for cancer research based on his friendship with Hunter in the 2011

Dry July Dry July Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that runs the annual Dry July campaign that challenges people to abstain from drinking alcohol for the month of July to support people affected by cancer. Since its inception, more than 290,000 p ...

fundraiser.

Awards

At the 2012

Hunter was post-humously inducted into the WAM Hall of Fame.

''Hunter: For the Record''

A documentary entitled ''Hunter: For the Record'' was made about his career and battle with cancer. The documentary's premiere screening was at the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of film, television, videogames, and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. During the 2014-15 finan ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 27 October 2012, with a second screening in

on 1 November 2012. In a Q&A session following the premiere, the producers stated that they intend to screen the documentary at film festivals in the following year, and that the documentary would be released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

with additional material that was left out due to time constraints.

Robert Hunter Cup

Melbourne MC Bias B and other members of the hip-hop community planned two events to commemorate Hunter's legacy, both events falling under the name ''Robert Hunter Cup''. On Saturday, 20 October 2012, a year after Hunter death, a gig was staged in Melbourne featuring artists including

, Layla and Optamus from the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, Funkoars, Brad Strut,

Boney & Stoney Brothers Stoney is an Australian hip hop group hailing from Brisbane, Queensland. The crew comprises emcees Lazy Grey and Len One. Both Lazy Grey and Len One are members of the Brisbane hip hop crew, 750 Rebels. History Boney & Stoney Laz ...

, amongst others. The following day, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

match was played between two teams, Westside Warriors (with players from Western Australia and South Australia) and Eastside Kings (from the states on the east coast), to raise funds for charity foundation Make-A-Wish. The event which was inspired by an impromptu "kick-to-kick" game at a wake near the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

at the time of Hunter's death. The Eastside Kings (7.8.50) defeated the Westside Warriors (7.4.46) by four points; comedian

Scott Dooley Scott "Dools" Dooley (born 29 March 1980) is an Australian comedian and radio announcer best known for his tenure with state-owned national youth network, Triple J and Nova 96.9. Career Dooley began his career at Triple J as a work experien ...

was awarded a trophy as "man of the match". Westside Warriors * 00

* 1 Defyre * 2 Cam McDonald * 3 Deej * 4 Rodrick * 5

* 6 Javs * 7 Rob Shaker * 8

(captain) * 9 Creed Birch * 10 Scott Bono * 11

Mr Grevis ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...

* 12 Simplex * 13

Vents Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

* 14 Flak * 15 Lukic * 16 Conseps * 17 Paul Salta * 18 Armee * 19 Adam Crook * 20 John Stoitis * 21 Kai * 22 Matt Garood * 23 MJ * 24 Bitter Belief * 25 LJ * 26

Pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...

* 27 Trumps * 29 John Garood * 30 Todd Nash (coach) * 36 RichoKidd * 64 L Street * 69 Hons * 75 Mortar * 77 Beats * 99

Reflux Reflux is a technique involving the condensation of vapors and the return of this condensate to the system from which it originated. It is used in industrial and laboratory distillations. It is also used in chemistry to supply energy to reactions ...

Eastside Kings * 0 Maundz * 1

Hau Latukefu Langomi-e-Hau Latukefu (born 1976), better known as Hau Latukefu, or sometimes MC Hau or simply Hau, is an Australian hip hop musician and radio host. He is best known as half of the duo Koolism (with Danielsan) and as the host of Triple J's hi ...

* 2 Jessie Lyons * 3 Trem (captain) * 4 Brad Strut * 5 Discourse * 7

Fluent Form Ryan Stewart, better known by the stage name Fluent Form or, more recently, Flu, is an Australian rapper and hip hop musician. Career Solo career Although Stewart participated in rap battles in his early days, using the experience to gain e ...

* 8 Crispy * 9 Briggs * 10 Troy Skarz * 11 Bigspin * 12 Guy Geezy * 13 Ryhno * 15 Bigfoot * 16 Heata * 17 Dwiz * 18 Josh Davis * 20 A-Love * 22 G Force * 23 Surreal * 25 Swarmy * 29

* 30 Eloquor * 31

Ozi Batla Ochakiv, also known as Ochakov ( uk, Оча́ків, ; russian: Очаков; crh, Özü; ro, Oceacov and ''Vozia'', and Alektor ( in Greek), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the adminis ...

* 32 Dedlee * 33 Deece * 35 Reason * 40 B Wiv * 44 Tornts * 45 Chris Gill * 69 Illergic * 75 Stewbakka (coach) * 77

Urthboy Tim Levinson, better known by the stage name Urthboy, is an Australian hip hop MC and producer from New South Wales. He is widely known for his solo music under the moniker Urthboy, as a founding member of the hip-hop group The Herd, and for ...

* 85 J Stark * 87 Mitus * 88 Bias B The event was repeated the following year, with the Robert Hunter Cup match played at

Victoria Park, Melbourne Victoria Park is a stadium, sports venue in Abbotsford, Victoria, Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The stadium is oval shaped and was built to host Australian rules football and cricket matches. In the past Victoria Par ...

, on Sunday, 6 October 2013, preceded by another "Aus All Stars" gig the night before. Eastside Kings (8.8.56) again defeated Westside Warriors (7.7.49). The final Robert Hunter Cup match played in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, on 25 October 2014 ended with another victory for the Eastside Kings (8.11. 59) over the Westside Warriors (7.8.50).

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Done DL'' - Hunter and Dazastah - Syllabolix /

(10 May 2002) * ''Going Back to Yokine'' - Hunter (solo album) - Syllabolix (1 June 2006) * ''Monster House'' - Hunter and DJ Vame (2010) * ''Fear and Loathing'' - Hunter and Mortar – Obese Records CLND004 (6 May 2011) * ''Australian Hip Hop Supports CanTeen'' Compilation, Hunter plus various Australian hip hop artists – SBX for Charity Hiphopcan001 (2 December 2011) * "Bring it All Back" - Hunter - Syllabolix (4 October 2013)

Extended plays

* ''Lucky Matt's Tatts'' – Hunter (solo EP) – Obese Records (2005)

Contributions

* "Jam Roll" song on ''Culture of Kings Volume 2'' - Obese Records (2002) * "Wake Up" song on ''Obesecity'' - Obese Records (2002) * "The Big Issue" song on ''Kiss My WAMi'' CD and audio DVD - Western Australia Music Industry (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter Australian hip hop musicians 1975 births 2011 deaths Deaths from cancer in Western Australia Deaths from pancreatic cancer Australian male rappers Obese Records artists 20th-century Australian musicians Rappers from Perth, Western Australia 20th-century Australian male musicians