BARKAA: Blak Matriarchy | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- BARKAA’s debut EP, Black Matriarchy, is a powerful six track celebration of past generations of Blak women, told with intense admiration, power and love. BARKAA, a Malyangapa, Barkindji woman based on Gandangara land, doesn’t mince words in this highly anticipated EP, demanding respect for the women who came before her, and for herself.

Following the release of her first single, For my Tittas, 2020 saw BARKAA grow into a highly respected artist, rapping about important issues and her culture and ancestry. There’s an intensity in her voice, raw and real. Her lyrics are radical and visceral, over hard-hitting production from jayteehazard and Just a Gent.

The title track opens the EP, and embodies everything you can expect from the rest of it. Directed by Selina Miles, it is accompanied by a video featuring Indigenous women of a variety of ages alongside BARKAA, surrounded by those fighting the same fight. Its beat is somehow eerie, almost feeling like a tape rewinding as BARKAA raps about generational traumas faced by her, her mother, her grandmother and generations to come.

While Blak Matriarch looks to the past, the follow-up track Godz embraces the future with a determined will to never stop creating art, speaking out and rapping while embracing motherhood and overcoming odds. BARKAA’s love and respect for herself and her kids is both powerful and empowered, as she raps openly about overcoming her time in prison and addiction recovery, “Had a noose on my neck, kicked it off with my legs”. And through her art and kids, she’s reclaimed her power, and doesn’t intend on every stopping as she repeats, “Told you no stopping til my body rot”.

Closing the EP is Groovy, with verses from fellow indigenous rappers Briggs, Nooky, Koobie Dee and Birdz. This track is a middle finger to her haters and those who doubted her, backed up by a handful of highly respected Indigenous men in the Australian rap scene. It’s a shift in tone compared to many of the preceding tracks, with a more uptempo beat and a lot of humour.

Blak Matriarchy is overflowing with raw emotion, uncompromising bars and, more than anything else, declarations of self-love. BARKAA’s respect for the women who came before her is laced into every word, as she unapologetically demands of anyone listening to feel the same.

- Alison Paris.