Harley Webster (born 1981) – better known as Phrase – is an Australian hip hop MC, originating from Melbourne.

History

Phrase began to piece together an album with producers Daniel Merriweather and J-Skub (Jan Skubiszewki), while working part-time for the Reach Youth foundation, an organisation that Phrase credits with helping him overcome behavioural problems he had in his mid-teens. The album, Talk with Force was picked up for national release by Universal Music Australia in 2005. Three singles were released from this album, "Here Now" featuring Mystro, "Catch Phrase" featuring Daniel Merriweather, and "Hold On" featuring labelmate Max White. In 2007 he founded the record label Crooked Eye with DJ Flagrant and J-Skub. The label's first release was a mixtape by Melbourne MC Illy (which Phrase also appears on). The same year, he released the non-album single "Face It" featuring Ian Kenny from Karnivool and Birds of Tokyo; which was used in the marketing campaign for the Australian release of Halo 3 In 2009 Phrase released his second album Clockwork, which included the high-rotation Triple J singles "Skylight" (featuring Kram) and "Clockwork". The album reached No. 26 on the ARIA albums chart and No. 6 on the ARIA Urban albums chart. In 2011, Phrase returned with a new sound for his 3rd album Babylon. The first single was "Apart" featuring Davey Lane. Other guest artists featured on the album included Jimmy Barnes, Sparkadia's Alex Burnett, Guineafowl, The Preatures and Jane Doe. During an interview with Reegan from Radar, Phrase said that 'Babylon is not a hip-hop album, but an album with rap on it.' Following a tour in support of the album, Phrase withdrew from making music. He has not performed live or released any new material since.

Personal life

Phrase married Australian R&B singer Jade MacRae. He attended Glen Waverley Secondary College as a teen; his father was an English teacher there. He has two sisters – a tattooist and an actress.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

Singles

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982. ! Ref.

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. ! Ref.

EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards

The EG Awards (known as Music Victoria Awards since 2013) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.

J Award

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.