1300 releases first full-length album

Sydney-based Korean alternative hip-hop group 1300 released its first full-length album, 'ILLSAMGONGGONG,' on July 16. The album is the group's first formal full-length release since joining Universal Music Korea.

The 13-track album centers on a journey toward a place of rest through persistence and friendship amid intense lives, 1300 said. The group said, 'Amid rapid growth, we had to keep balancing constantly as we crossed continents and maintained our own lives.'

1300 also said, 'This first full-length album was born after a period of silence that we needed. It is both a question and an answer we asked ourselves: whether the value built together by five people scattering in different directions can withstand the weight of life.'

The album includes featured artists and producers from hip-hop scenes in Korea and abroad. GIRIBOY appears after working with the group on the pre-release track 'Headrock,' while Kim Ximya appears on 'wheres my money,' and CHANGMO and DKAY joined the track '100,' which revives the feel of past street cyphers.

Grammy-nominated producer NEZ, who has worked on albums by A$AP Rocky and Schoolboy Q, contributed to 'WHISTLE,' which reinterprets 2000s hip-hop sounds with a modern approach. The music video for the title track 'Fever,' released at the same time as the album, was filmed entirely on iPhone and was directed and edited by member Nerdie.

British music outlet Clash said, '2026 will be their year, and they have the debut album to prove it.' Billboard, while covering the group's exclusive contract with Universal Music Korea, described 1300 as an artist 'reshaping the boundaries of Korean hip-hop.' 1300 is scheduled to perform at One Universe Festival at Incheon Paradise City on the 26th.