Candy Royalle & Kween G 'You're Racist'
Now. This IS the time to stop pulling our punches. On the verge of a world where inequality for all of us means the difference between life and death. For many, many people, we are already there. Especially in Australia, where the prejudice is so ingrained, where a large part of the population cannot even see it in the mirror. It's time to come together and look without flinching, but how?
Two Sydney artists, two great communicators, have joined forces to inspire us to action. Candy Royalle and Kween G combine - and seriously, what a combination! - for a confrontational, unapologetic track about racism in Australia and the world over. Music production by Aregradah, film by Eamon Dimmit. This needs to be heard, beyond the spheres of those who do know it. The message of these two poets is to look without flinching, learn without bargaining, listen without filtering.
Candy and Kween sent me these messages this week - both of these intelligent, fierce women inspire me hugely, and their strong affection for each other is representative of the best of the community when it works together, strongly acknowledges its teachers and its members and its common purpose. All power to them. To all of us. Please follow the links to their sites and support their music and their message.
Kween G
"I've had the pleasure of meeting Candy Royalle through a couple of events where we were billed together and I was very moved by her work and words and from that time I felt she is someone I would love to work with. We linked up after I saw her video titled 'if you're white, love hip hop and are easily offended THIS IS FOR YOU'. After what I heard I contacted her and then I contacted Aregradah and said we need a beat. This track is important to me because it is the experience of many people who have to survive in a system where racism exists. The denial & silencing from the general population makes it impossible to confront the causes of so much oppression that is happening here and around the world. Through my own decolonising journey I have come across master teachers who have been dedicated to seeking Justice for all and one of them is the late Dr Francis Cres Welsing who is featured in the track."
Candy Royalle
"Recently, Kween G and I were on a panel together for Vivid and I was reminded of her unapologetic fierceness, how radical and right on she is. I also love her rhythm and flow and wanted to make something with her. She saw my online rant about racism and hip hop and reached out and so it just fit. We wrote it over a little while and then recorded it in a couple of hours. It just worked and was so easy. Kween is courageous and a true warrior - she is unafraid to speak the truth and unafraid of the backlash, same as me. I want to do more work with her in the future where we continue to create work that is confronting, educational and real."
