Two Sydney artists, two great communicators, have joined forces to inspire us to action. Candy Royalle & Kween G combine - and seriously, what a combination! - for a confrontational, unapologetic track about racism in Australia and the world over. 

A spoken word video of Melbourne rapper 1/6 is being shared far and wide today and that fact gives me hope. That when truth is simply spoken it resonates. That we stop and listen. That we take it as meant, and work together to manifest more truth in our daily lives. This piece, writes 1/6, "was inspired by and in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It's purpose is to help raise awareness of the ongoing race issues happening not only in America but worldwide."

It feels good to be writing about two Australian spoken word long-play releases in the same week. And particularly good to be writing about a release from a storyteller who  tells the heart of this country, and who is taking storytelling to a whole new level.

The first time I saw Joel McKerrow perform live he was onstage alone belting out the poem Ugly Words, which features as the coda of this new long-play album, Welcome Home, with an urgency that surged and waned multiple times, from a tongue-in-cheek slyly self-knowing beginning to climactic shouting torrents of words that made it seem he might leap from the stage headlong into the audience, gather them all up and lead them on a poetic revolution through the streets. 

Here’s a snapshot of now, in Melbourne’s vibrant live spoken word scene.

This beautiful poet, beautiful voice, critically important story, captured with a very light touch by Luka Lesson on Kabalko Island …

Released today (May 1st) the new album from Greek-Australian poet Luka Lesson takes great leaps musically. Refreshingly mutable, fluidly shifting through styles, musical and poetic ideas, EXIT is an album with a heart of uncompromising truth.

The final instalment of Candy Royalle’s cinepoems series arrived this month, bringing the project to completion and maybe, full circle.

Sydney based Candy Royalle has this month released the ninth instalment of her video series, TWELVE. 

Essential hip hop. Pataphysics is Pat Marks, Melbourne-based soulful guerilla hip hop artist. Musician and revolutionary poet with insightful rhymes, in both English and Sri Lankan. Latest video hits home, hard.

New video from Australian poet Omar Musa. “A beautiful moment of clarity I experienced in Amsterdam.” Only two minutes of your time, a meditation from a rapper with a tender heart.

Seriously I haven’t been this excited by a voice since Amy.

I’ve been remiss in not linking to this, a video dropped in November. Melbourne-based spoken word artists Luka Lesson and Omar Musa in Istanbul transcending, produced by Tenicee. 

Watch this new video shot by Shuttermain, “She Cotton Summer Dresses”. From Melbourne.