After a long affiliation with the much-heralded but little-explored Gold Coast hip-hop scene, Soulmate Records release the debut album from local mainstay Syntax. "The Musical" is the result of two years of writing, recording and soul-searching to create an authentic hip-hop record in the soulful vein of hip-hop renaissance artists Little Brother, Slum Village and Pac Div. With an apprenticeship served as one third of Queensland mainstays Trace Elements - a crew that birthed Australia"s pre-eminent hip-hop producer M-Phazes - and time spent on the road with such luminaries as Bliss N Eso and Phrase, there"s no doubt that Syntax has put paid to that old hip-hop notion of "paying dues". And these dues paid are reflected in The Musical"s stellar line-up of collaborators, including the aforementioned M-Phazes, producer-of-the-moment Matik (Pez"s "The Festival Song", Seth Sentry"s "The Waitress Song) and celebrated US emcee Supastition to name a few