Kerser is nothing if not a controversial entity in the Australian music industry. The divisive rapper occupies a rather special niche in the Aussie hip-hop community – his fans adore him and his non-fans loathe him.
The cult emcee, whose real name is Scott Clarke Barrow, has managed to channel that divided opinion into a rather comfortable career. His social media-savvy approach to the music industry recently saw him hit the top five of the ARIA Albums Chart.
His journey to the dizzying heights of the pop charts has seen him rack up plenty of enemies along the way, however, including fellow emcee 360, with whom Kerser had a highly public feud, as well as festival promoters and the likes of triple j.
Another one of his adversaries is JB Hi-Fi, though through no fault of Kerser’s own. Instead, the Australian retail giant has something of a love-hate relationship with the rapper – they love that he moves a lot of units, they just wish his fans would actually pay for those units.
See, if you go into certain JB Hi-Fi’s around the country and head over to the Kerser section, you won’t find any of his albums or DVDs. It’s something of an inside joke in the Aussie hip-hop community, but some stores have been forced to keep the rapper’s music behind the counter.
They then replace the inventory with a little yellow sign advising fans to ask a staff member if they wish to purchase a Kerser product, because they’re a little sick and tired of having their stock shoplifted by the rapper’s followers.
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One store in Castle Hill was apparently so fed up with having their stock racked they put up a tongue-in-cheek sign that recommended the rapper’s music for fans of “Rollin’ 10-year-olds, spitting at bus stops, [and] dressing like a tennis instructor.”
Much to the chagrin of JB Hi-Fi’s Loss Prevention Team, Kerser isn’t all that fussed about fans stealing his music. “I don’t advise kids to steal, but I can’t contradict myself because when I was that age, I was stealing CDs from shops,” he previously told The Music.
“I’m not going to contradict myself, I’m just keeping it 100% real. If they can’t afford it, rack it.” Check out some of the (admittedly hilarious) highlights of JB Hi-Fi’s war on Kerser fans below.
