Hip hop eccentrics 206collab – rappers Flip+Skip and Eno, DJ/rap wunderkind JPlatnum, and soulstress Tiffa – are shifting into a new level of game with their second full-length album, Watch Kulagina. Inspired by Nina Kulagina, a Cold War era spy with psychokinetic powers, the 206 effortlessly consume listeners with dizzying lyricism and hypnotic beats. Which is no surprise considering their reputation for crowd control. Pushing out from hometown Sydney in 2002 to burn stages throughout east coast Australia, the group is famed for exceptional stage presence and ludicrous antics. 206collab’s acclaimed debut, What You Waited Years For, hit store shelves in 2006 and landed them national radio and TV, and positions as support artists for the likes of local heavyweights Blissneso and The Herd, to internationals Pharoahe Monche and Jean Grae (USA), Classified (Canada), and Killa Kela (UK). Their sophomore album demonstrates a significant progression from WYWYF, doubling down on their stylish brand of hip hop, with increased mic mastery and a thematic coherence through Kulagina. The music has a raw energy that pervades a diversity of moods across the album – from the heavy opener Hit the Ground Cunning and outlandish The Experts, to the cheeky TITA (The Things I Think About When I’m Watching You Talk) and nostalgic Why It Was So.