Indigenous

Rapper Briggs takes his homeland to the nation

Sheplife Briggs Golden Era Records Released August 2014 Now touring www.iambriggs.com Briggs is 598 kilometres from his hometown of Shepparton - and he's missing his bed. "When I'm at home I don't have people ringing me up telling me I've got to get out of the house," says the rapper, sitting on his hotel room's balcony in Sydney.

Renegades of Munk put the fun into funk

Renegades Of Munk Renegades Of Munk Released September 2014 Impossible Odds Records www.renegadesofmunk.com Mark Munk Ross says he has learnt to make his music more appealing by injecting a big dose of humour into his hard-hitting songs. "I try to make them humorous, which then makes it accessible to fans that might not be that political," says the man better known as Munkimuk, the "Grandfather of Indigenous hip-hop". "But they are still digesting it, whether they know it or not," he says. "Smart game plan I think."

18 questions for radical rapper Intikana

Native Eyez Intikana Released August 2014 Stampede Fireflies www.intikana.net Bronx-based rapper, producer, film-maker and youth worker Intikana hits out at indigenous injustice, cultural colonisation and international imperialism, among many other topics. Green Left Weekly's Mat Ward put 18 questions to him. His absorbing answers are below. * * * 1. You rap that "When people ask me where I'm from, I say my mama." Want to tell us more about your roots?

Plenty of meat in Bunz's raps

The Merry Grinchmas Mixtape MC Bunz Released December 25, 2013 Free download When Glen Anderson was playing sport with his schoolfriends, he was suddenly surrounded by police who ordered him to lay flat on the ground.

Jimblah grasps Australia's burning issues

Phoenix Jimblah Elefant Traks 2013 www.elefanttraks.com Most people fear fire, but Jimblah embraces it. The element flares up again and again in the rapper's searingly original work - from his first album, Face The Fire, to the one that just rose from its ashes, Phoenix.

Summer reading: recommended books of 2013

Green Left Weekly is taking a break for the summer from December 11 to January 22. To fill the void, it asked staff, contributors and others to recommend their favourite books of the year. Rachel Evans Green Left Weekly writer, activist, organiser How to Make Trouble and Influence People By Iain McIntyre http://goo.gl/l7GOfx

Liberals or Labor is no choice, says Provocalz

Verbal Reality Volume 2 Provocalz Coming October 2013 www.provocalz.bigcartel.com Rapper Provocalz has dedicated a song to Australia's Liberal and Labor parties on his new album - but it won't be music to their ears. On his track "Liberals or Labor", the Indigenous emcee suggests the two big parties are so contemptuous of voters that some, like him, might consider swapping their ballots for bullets: Liberals or Labor, they both leave us to rot So it's criminal behaviour, politicians get shot Pop pop pop pop! It's that real hip-hop, hip-hop

Barbara McGrady: pictures worth a thousand words

Visions in Black and White - Images from Indigenous Australia Redfern Community Centre, Sydney Until June 24, 2013. www.headon.com.au "Ngurragah," says Barbara McGrady, and smiles. The word, pronounced "nuh-ruh-gah", is one of her favourite utterances. But this committed activist and community photographer won't be using it to describe her latest exhibition, being held as part of Head On, the second largest photography festival in the world.

Rapper slams the Native Title Act as a 'white bible'

Deep Thought EP Caper April 5, 2013 www.caper.net.au Rapper Caper slams the Native Title Act as a "white bible" on his latest release. The Narungga emcee, who has worked as a Native Title field officer in South Australia for the past 10 years, raps on his track "The Writing's On The Wall": A lot of misconceptions about us owning land We don’t own any, man I work for Native Title The government is a rival Assholes with a white bible

Campbell’s cuts make for razor-sharp rap

The Campaign Kings Konekted Class A Records April 19, 2013 www.classarecords.com Kings Konekted have just released some of the choicest cuts in Australian hip-hop - and they were inspired by some of the whackest cuts in Australian politics. The Brisbane b-boys' new EP The Campaign paints a pretty gritty picture of life under cost-cutting Queensland Premier Campbell Newman.

Remote rapper looks on the bright side of strife

The Bryte Side Of Life Bryte Too Solid / MGM April 5, 2013 www.brytemc.com Bryte's new album, The Bryte Side Of Life, may urge his listeners to think positive, but it's not all sweetness and light. The Aboriginal rapper has lost none of the political bite that snarled from his award-winning first album, Full Stop, four years ago. The Perth-based performing poet kicks off his latest long-player with "World On Strike", a rallying call for global industrial action.

Provocalz, a provocative vocalist

Verbal Reality Volume One Provocalz Native Sun / Hustle Hard, 2012 $15 www.provocalz.bigcartel.com "Every time you see in the media someone's been killed by police it always just happens to be an Aboriginal," says radical rapper Provocalz. It's 9.30 on a Saturday morning and the south-west Sydney spitter is telling Green Left why he made his hard-hitting horrorcore track, "Cop Shot".
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