pictureEighteen months ago, Nookie was considering retirement. CicadaAt the very least, retirement is possible. After all, Corey Webster, born Yuin and Tungutti, has had a successful career as a radio presenter and Blackouta show on Australian youth broadcaster Triple J, and We Are Warriors, a social enterprise that aims to empower Indigenous youth. Perhaps the stresses of a years-long music career were no longer worth it.
“I was sick of the crap,” Webster says matter-of-factly. “I'd had enough of rap. I'd had success in other areas and felt like my needs had changed. I thought I was done.” When Noongar rapper Dallas Woods approached him about collaborating on new music, Webster thought it would be a good way to spend his semi-retirement time: pitching in for an old friend, with no strings attached. Webster enlisted Angus Field, the Gumbhaingir singer and relative newcomer to the music world, to provide the hook for one of their new songs, the introspective ballad “Coming Home.”
None of them expected those sessions would spawn an album and become one of the most exciting and important new projects in Australian hip-hop. The trio came together under the banner 3% – a name that alludes to the percentage of Indigenous people in Australia's population. Their debut album, Kill the Dead, out Friday, is guns blazing hip-hop that speaks directly and passionately about issues that affect Indigenous Australians, from institutionalized racism to police brutality. “Making this album made me feel like I was 16 again, freestyling in the backstreets,” Webster says. “I got back something I thought I'd lost – my passion.”
The group debuted last year with the fiery single “Our People,” which sampled Sydney electronic staples The Presets' 2007 dancefloor anthem “My People.” The lyrics deal with the unjust incarceration of Indigenous Australians, some of whom were as young as 10, which drew outrage from the country's conservative media. Sky News The group's performance of the song, which aired on national TV on New Year's Eve, was described as “the worst fireworks show ever” and a “woke shit show.” Naturally, 3% of people took this as a badge of honor.
“We don't shut up,” Woods says. “We either say it like it is or we don't say it at all. Everybody can understand the lyrics. We're not speaking for ourselves, we're speaking for our peers. That gives us strength, and it doesn't feel nerve-wracking when we go out there. All we do is speak the truth, and it's a heavy truth, and people are bound to be offended.”
Webster, Woods and Field wanted Kill the Dead to reflect their collective experiences as Indigenous men. Naturally, this meant political songs like “Our People” and “Land Back,” but also more fun, playful cuts like “Sleazy Steezy Cool,” which features pop singer Tia Gostelow. The album's diversity “is a testament to the resilience of our people,” Webster says.
“We've endured a lot, but we're always ready to move forward. There are tears, trauma and pain, but also a lot of joy, happiness, strength and resilience. That's what we tried to do with this album: to be as honest as possible with ourselves and our people. We wanted to make an album that was accessible and enjoyable, but also a rollercoaster ride.”
“You either tell it like it is or you don't tell it at all. Lyrically, everyone can understand it.” – Dallas Woods
As a newcomer in the booth with two veteran MCs, Field knew he had a lot of work to do on “Kill the Dead.” Though he was nervous at first, he eventually found his place within that dynamic, with Woods and Webster encouraging him to keep pushing the boundaries. “They're two of the best songwriters in Australia and if they're stepping out, their “Can you imagine what I was thinking at that moment when the game ended?” he says.
“My greatest strength is coming up with melodies and I was building hooks from what I got from them. Watching them work on track after track was really impressive. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It was a real eye-opener at this early stage in my career. The chemistry was amazing from the first session. We had really just met but it felt like I'd known them for a long time. They were so respectful and accepting of me. I'm just a kid from northern NSW but they made me feel like I was so much more.”
Even before the release of Kill the Dead, 3% had begun to attract attention both at home and abroad. They played to a few hundred people in Sydney on January 26th, known as Invasion Day, a day to commemorate Indigenous Australians, and then played to thousands more at a free event in the city's Tumbalong Park as part of the Vivid arts festival. Next month, the trio will also perform their first overseas show, playing the Reeperbahn festival in Hamburg.
The group understands that for those listening outside of Australia, this may be their first exposure to the issues facing Indigenous sovereignty and human rights – an issue the 3% cannot take lightly. “There's a lot to learn from this music,” Webster says. “There are real stories to be told here. This is a lived experience. We weren't taught about racism in school, but we learned about it quickly outside of school. We've received really inspiring messages from our First Nations and Maori cousins in Canada. It's starting to resonate across the ocean, and we hope it continues.”
Woods, too, is excited about what's next for the trio. “This is bigger than us,” he says matter-of-factly. “This is an album about looking in the mirror and seeing a warrior. There's a responsibility in this music. We're talking about history, but we're also talking about the future. We want our people to have pride and value. On this continent, there are tribes and clans from all over the world, and since we didn't have any governments, we've only ever shared one thing: a connection to this land. We're the storytellers of the next generation.”
Field agrees with the men he's come to call his “big brothers.” “I want people to listen to 'Kill the Dead' and hear great black men writing songs that are from their hearts,” he says. “I want people to hear black men making music that they believe in, music that's born from the real issues that black men face. I want people to feel that inspiration coming through. We made this album because we believe in it.”
3%'s Kill the Dead will be released on August 9th via 1788 Records/Virgin Music Group.
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