Invasion Day 2014 Mixtape
Brisbane Blacks
Released January 26, 2014
www.1stnationsmobb.bandcamp.com
As countless Australians donned their Cronulla capes and sank slabs of piss this Australia Day, non-profit publication Brisbane Blacks marked the occasion by releasing a free album full of protest songs.
The Invasion Day 2014 Mixtape brings together Aboriginal rappers from across the country to spit fire about a national day that continues to celebrate their peoples' genocide by being held on January 26, the date that the First Fleet arrived from England in 1788.
"It's just so we could get the word out about how we are treated here in our own country," Brisbane Blacks' Boe Knows told Green Left Weekly. "What we feel, what we see - and to reach different peoples that don't know of our struggle."
The mixtape - a term often used in hip-hop to describe albums given away for free - is already making waves internationally. It has been picked up by First Nations activists in North America, which is also known to Indigenous people as Turtle Island. The mixtape's predecessor, the Idle No More Mixtape, also built bridges between Indigenous peoples in Canada and Australia.
"Yeah it's a follow on from that mixtape," said Knows. "Everyone that was in the last one really enjoyed being a part of it and we were so keen to get back into it. Most of the people on this mixtape were on the last one as well and we've got a few new people on this one.
"We all share the same level of consciousness and that mindset of protecting our lands and our peoples. Whether we're talking about here or overseas, it's all the same story of that resistance from the first peoples of those lands."
As long as Australia Day falls on January 26, Brisbane Blacks should be putting out mixtapes every year - perhaps even more often, said Knows.
"Hopefully we can also do some more throughout the year as well."
Hear the whole album and download it for free here.