Not many artists have garnered more hype than Manu Crooks.

Since the release of his EP Mood Forever last year — which offered up the massive single ‘Day Ones’ — the Ghana-born, Sydney-raised rapper has been widely tipped to be Australia’s great hip-hop saviour, leading the charge internationally alongside acts like Carmouflage Rose, Sampa the Great, Remi, and B Wise.

His victory lap is only continuing: a few months back he dropped the Latin-influenced single ‘Fuego’, and hopped around the UK and Europe on tour before heading home to play a set at Splendour in the Grass. Recently, he linked up with his friends and fellow Western Sydney artists B Wise and Lil Spacey for the shit-hot new single, ‘Best Years‘.

Tomorrow night he’ll return to his hometown to play a massive show for Red Bull Music, supported by B Wise, UV boi بنفسجي, Milan Ring, Lil Spacely, and Ebony Boadu.

Ahead of this, we asked Manu Crooks to dig back through through his record crate and pull out the five albums that shaped him.

Spoiler: they’re great.

---

Kanye West — 808s and Heartbreak

I love this album; when it dropped it felt like it was ahead of its time. Everything about this album is sick — the production, the lyrics, and solid songs.

It was the first time Kanye went in a different direction and I respected that. I feel like 808s opened more doors for him as an artist. In terms of tracks, ‘Heartless’ is one I had on repeat. I was going through some stuff at the time and this track was one that helped me through it, it just resonated with me.

---

J Cole — Sideline Story

It’s hard to narrow down which album in Cole’s back catalogue has influenced me the most. I love everything he does, all the tapes and the albums.

I like the fact he did the production himself on all his early work — you can appreciate his lyrics, but also hear him as a producer.

I used to listen to crunk music much more, you know Lil Jon, The East Side Boyz, Lil Scrappy, then I started listening to rap, and Cole I can say is one rapper who seemed to paint pictures better for me — he is a true storyteller.

---

Ludacris — The Red Light District

This was ahead of its time too – I like the way he was rapping and the diversity of tracks. You can tell he had fun with this album; his personality really came through and I respect the way he made it very much his own.

“Large Amounts” and “Pimpin’ All Over the World” were two stand outs for me on that album. Along with Outkast, I like that Ludacris really put the South on the map.

I like that his notion of home could really come through and proved that you didn’t have to be from LA or NYC to do well in this scene.

---

The Weeknd — Trilogy

I like the Weeknd’s Trilogy on a conceptual level. Musically it wasn’t something I was listening to regularly but this album as a package really stood out for me.

I liked the roll out and the mystery behind it. He was quite considered in the way he approached it and I found that really interesting.

---

Young Thug — Slime Season 3 

Just sick.

—

Manu Crooks plays Cargo Hall in Sydney tomorrow night as part of Red Bull Music Presents Mood Forever, supported by B Wise, UV boi بنفسجي, Milan Ring, Lil Spacely, and Ebony Boadu. Check out all the details here.