A.B. Original haven’t concealed their desire to rile up the Australian public, taking Aussie culture to task for its treatment of its Indigenous population on fiery tracks like ‘2 Black 2 Strong‘ and their recent Dan Sultan collaboration ‘January 26‘.
“We’re subtle like a sledgehammer. Being subtle and humble is what the oppressor wants. And we’re not about that,” Briggs, one half of the duo, recently told Tone Deaf. “We’ve been raised to know to second guess the things that have been put in the papers.”
“We know it’s not our agenda that they’re really trying to serve.” Briggs and partner Trials, of Adelaide hip-hop outfit Funkoars, have their own agenda and it becomes clear in the lyrics to the powerful anti-Australia Day anthem ‘January 26’.
“They screaming ‘love it or leave it’ / I got more reason to be here, if you can believe it“, Briggs raps on the song, which dropped earlier this month and immediately stirred controversy. “Turn that flag to a noose, put a cease to your breathing“, he adds.
“How you wanna raise a flag with a rifle to make us want to celebrate anything but survival / You watching tele for ‘The Bachelor’ but wouldn’t read a book about a f***load of massacres“, Trials spits on the track.
Speaking recently to Yahoo News, Briggs and Trials elaborated on their view of Australian culture in 2016. “Australia is so fixated on this superficial beers and mates and barbecue culture, that they act like they don’t have that s**t in Puerto Rico,” said Briggs.
“Bro, they’ve got Mexican beers, you’ve heard about that? They’ve got barbecues in Argentina, bro — I’ve tasted them, they’re delicious. It’s time to look at Australia and what our culture actually is.”
“It’s not about lamington recipes,” Trials added. “It’s about massacres. It’s about colonialism and real-deal topics that you won’t read about. Instead you’ll go watch The Bachelor and tune the f**k out for a couple of hours.”
The band’s forthcoming full-length album is entitled Reclaim Australia and is set for release later in the year. Briggs and Trials will both appear as part of a keynote interview with Lindsay McDougall at BIGSOUND next month.
