Agung Mango Is the Melbourne Rapper Who Deserves More Attention

April 19, 2022, 1:08am

I specifically remember the day that Melbourne Rapper Agung Mango’s collaboration EP with NIKODIMOS, Song Of Agung, turned up on Spotify.

The hype on Instagram was infectious: every story an ode to the young rapper’s second collaborative project. Wide-eyed Balinese spirits, their long-tongues jutting from their sharp-toothed mouths, hulked across the cover art. Almost immediately after hitting play on the first song, “YO EL REY” – brought in by a melodic flute and gravel-throated rap – I was hooked.

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I’d heard of Mango before – briefly – through his partner (Melbourne singer/songwriter CD). But it wasn’t until I listened to his latest EP – and heard the sheer dynamism, emotiveness and delivery – that the amount of raw talent he possessed clicked.

Mango has been kicking around the scene for the last few years, playing at festivals like Laneway, and finding features on revered music sites like NME. These are all dues he deserves for his work – but it’s still nowhere the attention he should be getting.

Perhaps a symptom of the ‘baby’ Australian music scene, dominated by Triple J, Agung certainly doesn’t lack talent.

To me, the weekly column you’re reading right now was made for people like Agung. Three main things come into play when deciding to zoom in on any Australian artist: originality, presence and production. Mango is flawless in all three. His demeanour, on and off the stage, is synonymous with a world-class artist. He’s confident and well-attuned. His live shows, too, are often cited as personality-defining.

Songs like ‘GOOD4NUFFIN’ with NIKODIMOS and Teether, or ‘HOME N AWAY’ with 3K, while feeling heavily Kendrik Lamar inspired, hone an unbridled and unafraid artistry that many young musicians take time to find. Mango doesn’t hold himself back, and it’s the expression, and the willingness to experiment with his vocals, that push him ahead of the ravenous pack of artists looking for air time.

Something that most obviously pushes Mango beyond the herd is his attention to detail and tight instrumentation: there are a lot of elements and a lot of sections. It’s complicated. But it feels full, perfectly placed to cradle his oft-sunny afternoon, lean-back rap. Prime examples stand in his latest tracks “120fps” and “WISEFOOL”.

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