ONEFOUR ft: Headie One - Gang Ties (Official Video)
One of the most infamous and influential drill collectives in Australia right now, ONEFOUR recruits UK street icon Headie One for their groundbreaking collab single “GANG TIES” – out now via The Orchard.
A true testament to their dedication and artistic integrity, ONEFOUR continue to rise as Australia’s hottest export with “GANG TIES”. Laced with emotive pianos and sharp trap textures, the potent kinetics lay groundwork for the collective to trade cut-throat bars with typical finesse. Their words depict growth, resilience and the unbreakable bonds of loyalty while raw street reflections and flashes of their success tee up Headie One to deliver one of his most poignant verses to date. From the streets of Mount Druitt to North London, their enigmatic displays of authority become a vigorous reminder of their influence at street level, and the fierce determination that has marked them as their national spearheads of drill music.
Unleashed alongside an electrifying music video, ONEFOUR and Headie One manoeuvre through a busy Western Australian backdrop – backed by their city as gritty cinematography instantly depicts the fast pace and hustle of Sydney’s most infamous suburb.
Speaking in the track and collaboration, ONEFOUR mentions: “Whether it's out of necessity or choice, we form Gang Ties or connections with people we relate to - brotherhoods that are formed to overcome the challenges that we often face. Headie One has been one of our favourite UK rappers for time, so to have him feature on one of our songs is a big moment for us. Western Sydney to the world."
Headie One adds: “It’s great to be able to travel and connect with the guys in person. I’ve been a fan of their music from afar so when the opportunity came to do a track together and I heard the theme of the song it made sense to me. We share a lot of similarities in our upbringing, the environments we grew up in and the friendships in our communities. These things help make the song have more meaning.”
“GANG TIES” comes off the back of ONEFOUR’s recent singles “NATURAL HABITAT” (watch) and “PROVE EM WRONG” (watch), an APRA award for Most Performed Hip-Hop Work for their Gold single “COMMAS” ft. CG (watch) and their headline national tour, playing to sold-out venues across Australia and New Zealand for the very first time.
Pioneers in elevating Australia’s underground scene onto the global stage, the collective – comprised of J Emz, Spenny, Celly and Lekks - has racked up well over 300M streams on Spotify alone. With breakout tracks like “The Message” and “Spot the Difference” establishing their deep-rooted influence and visionary conviction, ONEFOUR joined forces with US innovator A$AP Ferg across “Say It Again” and featured across Headie One’s official remix of “Ain’t It Different” alongside Stormzy and AJ Tracey.
These performances quickly became defining moments in the build-up to their highly acclaimed debut project Against All Odds, as ONEFOUR’s sound and raw storytelling paved the way to their own groundbreaking Netflix documentary. Capturing the struggle, pressure and conflict on the streets of Mount Druitt, the recordings trace the meteoric rise of Australia's first drill rap stars, defiant in the face of police's efforts to stop them at all costs in a story reminiscent of our very own Giggs or further back, iconic US rappers NWA.
With immediate critical attention across the likes of GQ, NME, THE GUARDIAN and ROLLING STONE, ONEFOUR’s fierce and polished invention not only musically but visually place them firmly as Australia’s foremost rap crew. Now supporting The Kid Laroi in November alongside Quavo, ONEFOUR’s meteoric trajectory continues to mark their names into the international blueprint this year. Get ready to hear and see a whole lot more.