rap
Only Built For Koori Linx
Provocalz
Featuring Felon and 18 other Indigenous emcees
Mastered by Felon
Coming soon
www.facebook.com/Felon167Inc
The mainstream media are swarming all over the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy and Felon Mason is stripped to the waist.
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
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."
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.
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1. You rap that "When people ask me where I'm from, I say my mama." Want to tell us more about your roots?
Revolutionary Minded 4
Marcel Cartier
Released July 26, 2014
http://bit.ly/1qYcIQ7
US rapper Marcel Cartier's lines usually ring out with the clarity of a clarion call - and the messages on his latest album are as loud and clear as ever. As he tells Green Left Weekly's Mat Ward, much of the material comes from first-hand experience with struggles around the world.
Reclaim Your Voice
Various artists
Released June 2014
Blue Mountain Sound
www.bluemountainsound.com.au
Andy Busuttil of Blue Mountain Sound released the following statement on June 28.
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We would like to think of our Australia as a nation with a big heart. A nation that stands for the dispossessed and does its damndest to help those in need, especially those attempting to flee tyranny.
Blue Volume
Joelistics
Released June 20, 2014
Elefant Traks
www.joelistics.com
The flawless music on Joelistics' second solo album is more than matched by the depth of his lyrics - an unflinching look at Australian reality. Green Left Weekly's Mat Ward went through the words with the rapper, who brings some much-needed grit to Australian hip-hop.
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On "Say I'm Good" you rap:
I'm an oddball, on the wrong team
All my friends are out of step with the mainstream
And the nightmare is in full swing
Big Kitty Life
MC Dukebox
Released December 2013
Impossible Odds Records
www.dukebox.net.au
MC Dukebox says he named his debut album "Big Kitty Life" because he was sick of seeing government funds misspent.
"It's referring to a big kitty of funding that everyone's lining up for with a different excuse for why they deserve the money and how they're going to benefit their surrounding communities," says the Indigenous rapper, who hails from Inverell in north-west NSW.
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.
One
L-FRESH The LION
Vienna People Recordings
Released May 9, 2014
www.l-fresh.com
Rapper L-FRESH The LION is as well known for his activism as he is for his music. Green Left Weekly's Mat Ward spoke to the Sydney-raised Sikh about his newly released debut album, One.
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World View
AWKWORD
February 2, 2014
www.awkwordrap.com
RAPtivism
Aisha Fukushima
March 2012
www.raptivism.bandcamp.com
Travelling the world is a big enough challenge for most people, but Aisha Fukushima also managed to make a politically-charged hip-hop album while she did it. Green Left Weekly's Mat Ward spoke to the California-based "rap activist".
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You collaborated with rappers in the various countries you visited on your travels and emerged with a powerful album. Has your wanderlust been satisfied or do you have another similar album in the works?
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