Hello, my name is Tommy Ill, and I am a rapper from Wellington. I've been doing it for quite a while now. People seem to like it. I don't rap about guns, drugs or bling. I'm more likely to rap about girls. Girls and drinking. Girls, drinking and phone bills.

In 2007 I put out an EP called Toast and Tea Kettles. It did really well, two of the songs got nominated for bNet awards (Best Hip Hop Track and RadioActive song of the year). My song "Bill Cosby" made it into the top 10 on almost every bNet radio station in the country.

My trusty sidekick Buck Beauchamp and I play a whole bunch of shows, and really good looking people come to those shows. They dance and clap. It's quite a lot of fun. We usually play with indie or electro bands as their crowd seem to like us more than the more traditional hip hop people. I've made live guest appearances with many bands including So So Modern, Cut Off Your Hands, Holiday With Friends and Heat Like Me.

Legal Money Mike from Auckland rap group The Unscene once told us that we were the only rap group he'd ever seen piggy back each other into the crowd and then tackle an audience member. I'm quite proud of that. Peaches once told me I sounded like Beck, but I didn't believe her. Lovefoxxx from CSS begged me to come to Auckland with her so she could see me do my guest rap with So So Modern again. Then she poured Jagermeister in my beer. It was a good day.

Buck and I will be releasing an EP through Loop Recordings very soon (October 21). It's called Matchsticks. It's very good. We made all the music ourselves, with a little help from our friends. We have to get rich soon because Buck insists we get a new Ferrari every time we release a CD. Please don't let Buck down, I hate to see him cry.


Moving blues, downbeat and soul recalling productions kinetically hyper-charged with pristine wordplay. Tommy’s trademark humour remains intact, cocoons within a new sense of musicality, confidence, focus and artistic purpose. Matchsticks is an excellent release, just listen and remember to breathe. Groove Guide ****