New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The wait is almost over! Rap God, Eminem, will soon grace our shores for four massive stadium shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in February, before travelling to Wellington in March.
The news that Eminem's RAPTURE 2019 tour would return to Australian stadium stages generated a monumental amount of interest, with tickets selling out instantly - requiring TEG Dainty to open up additional inventory in Melbourne and Sydney to meet fan demand.
What was already the hottest ticket in town just reached untouchable status with the announcement of these special guests.
Introducing the full roster of extraordinary talent, personally curated by
Eminem himself, that's guaranteed to thrill RAPTURE 2019's Australian audiences:
Hilltop Hoods (AU)
Adelaide's
Hilltop Hoods - Pressure, Suffa and DJ Debris - need no introduction; they basically put Australian hip hop on the world stage. The trio have released a colossal 7 studio albums and 2 "Restrung" albums, selling nearly 1 million albums, a staggering 1.9 million singles, and over half a billion global streams to date. All
Hilltop Hoods album releases have been certified Gold, Platinum or 2x Platinum and 5 of these albums peaked at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. They've also collected a grand total of 9 ARIA Awards throughout their extensive career. The latest single by Hilltop Hoods, 'Leave Me Lonely', was the #1 most added track across Australian radio the week of its release. This is some of our first taste of 'The Great Expanse', Hilltop Hoods' upcoming eighth album, which is scheduled to drop on 22 February Eminem's RAPTURE 2019 audience members will be among the first in the country to hear new
Hilltop Hoods material live alongside fan-favourites.
Royce da 5'9" (USA)
An eclectic hip-hop artist who hails from Eminem's hometown of Detroit, Royce da 5'9" shares a history with the RAPTURE headliner that stretches all the way back to 1997, when
Eminem and Royce were first introduced to each other at a concert. The pair's working relationship first took shape when they formed a hip hop duo, Bad Meets Evil, with Royce adopting the "Bad" moniker and
Eminem taking on the "Evil" alias. Royce's name will also be familiar to long-time
Eminem fans thanks to a series of diss tracks he aimed squarely at D12, the crew retaliating via their own diss tracks. Royce da 5'9" features on 'Bad Meets Evil' from 'The Slim Shady LP', Eminem's debut major-label studio album (1999). More recently, Royce features on 'Not Alike' (from Eminem's recent, surprise tenth studio album 'Kamikaze') and
Eminem features on Royce's latest single 'Caterpillar', the fourth single to be lifted his critically acclaimed seventh record 'Book Of Ryan'. He's also written songs for the likes of
50 Cent and Diddy, and is a great addition to RAPTURE 2019.
Boogie (USA)
Boogie (real name Anthony Dixson), quickly caught the attention of Eminem's record label Shady Records, who signed the hip hop artist in 2017 after he released a trio of mixtapes: 'Thirst 48' (2014), 'The Reach' (2015) and 'Thirst 48, Pt. II' (2016). Fans then waited with baited breath for his debut album and
Boogie delivers on 'Everything's For Sale', which dropped in January and features
Eminem (on standout track 'Rainy Days').
Boogie raps about what's real and the production on his first record is nuanced and crisp. Equally impressive rapping over EDM jams and more sombre cuts conveying a serious message, Boogie's risen above the perils of gang life - wanting more for his son - and his output is always infused with authenticity. As well as earning praise from
Eminem ("He's got melodies for days and the skills to go with it!"),
Rihanna called
Boogie her "new favourite" rapper and
Kendrick Lamar has given him the thumbs-up.
Boogie opened for 6black on his world tour and also features on 'Dumb' from fellow RAPTURE 2019 support Royce da 5'9"s 'Book Of Ryan'.
Final, limited tickets are on sale now for RAPTURE 2019 in Melbourne and Sydney through Ticketek.
Brisbane - Wednesday 20 February - QSAC - SOLD OUT
Sydney - Friday 22 February - ANZ Stadium - LIMITED TICKETS
Melbourne - Sunday 24 February - MCG - LIMITED TICKETS
Perth - Wednesday 27 February - Optus Stadium - SOLD OUT
Wellington - Saturday 2 March - Wellington Stadium - SOLD OUT
