Mighty Big Crime

Mighty Big Crime is an Australian hip hop duo made up of Gumpy Phillips and Tricky J a.k.a. Justin Lodge. They are credited as having put out, in 1987, Australia’s first hip hop release, “16 Tons” b/w “Humber Mania Time”. “16 Tons” is a rap reworking of a Merle Travis country song “Sixteen Tons”. That single and the follow up, a cover of Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out”, both reach the top 10. Their video for “Dr. Dynamite” was nominated for a 1991 ARIA Award for Best Video. It was released by Virgin Records and Criteria Productions.
World Famous Producer David Courtney was in Australia in 1986 and after seeing 2 emcees on stage at a pub he gave them the name Mighty Big Crime and he secured a deal with Virgin Records. They recorded 2 cover songs, the classic 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Schools Out by Alice Kooper, both of which charted in the Top 10.
The single was a Beastie Boys derivative and the Melbourne based duo soon disbanded, in 1991  both were members of flower power group, Freaked Out Flower Children