Hip hop's emergence from social and economic disadvantage in the United States bears some similarities to the struggle many youths are facing in Darwin, where an underground rap scene is thriving.
Long-time Top End producer and performer Kyle Doevendans said there was now more young talent than ever before taking to the stage.
"It's now growing with more MCs and hunger than there has been in a long time," he said.
"Each different group or local MC, they all bring a fanbase and support network which is growing gig by gig."
'Darwin's got something to say'
Artist Atom Abdalla said he believed Darwin's hip hop scene would become nationally recognised in a few years.
"The artists and people we have, there's just a lot of energy that nobody else has," Abdalla said.
Music venue Happy Yess has been holding regular hip hop nights, encouraging artists to perform.
"Darwin's got something to say … and I think that's something to bring to the table," venue coordinator Teghan Hughes said.
"There's a looseness to Darwin and I think that helps when you're making rhymes."
"There's some really good talent here though, there's some really fast rappers, some really clever rappers and I think there's people here in Darwin that have got some pretty interesting stories and some of those guys are able to use rap as a really good way of getting those stories out."
New online opportunities for regional artists
Rapper Matthew Lim, known as Muxy, has worked with international artists like August Alsina and Chingy.
He said Darwin artists were limited by a lack of resources, but they were finding more opportunities on the internet.
"I never let living in a small town be an excuse, anyone from around the world can just search your name on YouTube and hear your music," Lim said.
"At 13 I saved up my money and invested in recording equipment … and also learnt how to do everything myself from recording to mixing, shooting my own music videos and also editing them."
He said, from his experience of working with youth in Darwin, hip hop was their preferred genre because it was a powerful way of storytelling.
Jacob Nichaloff, or J-Milla, said music became a tool to help him concentrate in school, after being diagnosed with severe ADHD as a child.
Nichaloff's music has been played on ABC's Triple J and in nightclubs in Germany and Russia.
He said rap had helped him express difficult life experiences.
"I still have a story to tell with domestic violence, violence against women," Nichaloff said.
"Being an Aboriginal here in Australia as well there's also discrimination that goes on with that so I'm going to be a voice for my people."
