“Life feels cinematic right now”, repeats Melbourne rapper Alasdair Murray near the end of his fourth album as Illy. He has definitely lived up to the record’s titular promise by that point, delivering a narrative and emotional sweep downright grand in scale. Tapping repeat collaborator M-Phazes to produce and co-write the bulk of the tracks, Murray leans into propulsive strings, sing-along chants, stadium-ready drum fills and synth bursts that hit like confetti cannons. All of that would be impressive enough, yet the MC underpins it with real emotional acuity and a knack for cherry-picking not just diverse collaborators but the specific genre trappings to let them truly shine. Case in point: UK singer Thomas Jules nails the unabashed pop chorus of “One for the City”, while The Amity Affliction’s Ahren Stringer mingles with rock guitars on “Youngbloods” as Murray big-ups his potential successors. Hilltop Hoods bring their reliable kinetic energy to the boom-bap standout “Coming Down”, ahead of spirited soul turns from Daniel Merriweather and Kira Puru. The album’s breakout hit proved to be “Tightrope”, a surprisingly peppy portrait of romantic strife and reconciliation that plays like a hip-hop version of “Somebody That I Used to Know”—thanks to singer Kristina Miltiadou on the album version and Scarlett Stevens on the platinum-selling single. The latter moments of the album take a far more personal turn, addressing Murray’s mother with love and devotion on “Am Yours” and reflecting on rapping since age 12 at the start of “More Than Gold”. Murray and M-Phazes would continue to work together well after Cinematic, yielding such enduring singles as the 2016 earworm “Papercuts”. As M-Phazes set out to shepherd emerging artists in the form of Amy Shark and Ruel, Murray has kept choosing inventive counterpoints via teamups with G Flip, Vera Blue, Guy Sebastian and even alt-rock band WAAX. In fact, many of his biggest swings can be traced back to Cinematic, which saw him resolutely blow out the boundaries of Australian hip-hop at that point.