<p><span><span>- First Nation’s hip hop in Australia has been soaring into the mainstream in recent years with the rise of artists like <strong>Baker Boy </strong>and <strong>Briggs </strong>with <strong>A.B. Original </strong>and now riding that wave with his own unique abilities and stories is the newly emerged, energetic MC from Tweed Heads, JK-47.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Building from his first two single releases mid-2020, with <em>The Recipe </em>and <em>I Am Here (Trust Me)</em>, the 22-year-old Bundjalung man has just dropped his first full-length album <em>Made For This</em>. The ten-track record is a brilliant showcase of poetic artistry and intimate honesty. In an interview with Richard Kingsmill on <em>2020</em>, JK-47 talks about the influence of old-school American hip hop from a very young age, mentioning how he had wanted to mimic their stories until he learnt to express his own messages and sound through the genre. The old, stripped-back sound that is consistent throughout <em>Made For This</em> is a good reflection of this influence, as is the energy and passion in his voice, pushing him far away from the dull lazy-rap trend that is prominent in Aussie Hip-Hop through certain artists like <strong>Illy</strong> and <strong>Tuka.</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span><span>It's hip hop so of course there's plenty of boasts and bragging, but there's also a vulnerability on this album which really shines a light on JK-47’s character and humility. The very first piece on the album, <em>Abandoned</em>, is a perfect opening in this regard, setting the intimate scene: “<em>I don’t know if you know this / but I don’t even know how I’m gonna get through…”</em> and “<em>I got nowhere to go, all I got are emotions”</em>. It is a very hard-hitting and emotive song, painting a very clear picture of the struggles of a young Indigenous Australian and exploring themes of discrimination and identity-conflict. His earlier single <em>I Am Here (Trust Me)</em> that appears as track eight also immerses itself in these themes, the repeated phrase <em>“We don’t know who to be / Coz they robbed us of our identities”</em> amidst a goldmine of passionate, sharp bars, really pulling on heart strings.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>A highlight of the album where we get a beautifully clear picture of JK-47’s personal story is track six, <em>Outta Time (1-Take)</em>. A very stripped-back track with smooth synth, steady percussion and bass placed underneath that one-take rap, where he talks of finding his path, coming out of a highly abusive home environment and growing up feeling lost in a country that continues to tear apart and abandon its indigenous peoples. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>We get little glimpses of his faith throughout the album also, with references to God and Heaven, and in <em>Outta Time (1-Take)</em> comes the spine-tingling line “…<em>They took over this land just to tell me what a Christian is / a hand of God I bet that they don’t even know themself…”. </em>This line is a little reminiscent of the great <strong>Kev Carmody</strong>’s song <em>Thou Shalt Not Steal</em>, unashamedly pointing out the mind-numbing hypocrisy of those who claimed Christianity as their faith being complicit in genocide.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>All things considered, one criticism you could level at the album is that it is texturally quite barren. Although there are several tracks throw in a few samples -such as <em>On One</em> in which we hear choppy sections of what could be the old '60’s recording of <strong>Marvin Gaye </strong>&<strong> Tammi</strong> <strong>Terrell</strong>’s <em>Ain't No Mountain High Enough</em> forming the bones of the melody- there's a sense of diminishing returns as you dig into the album: for instance you'll notice the two most layered tracks are those that were released as singles earlier in the year. The stripped feel helps to express the emotion of the lyrics, to engage the listener better on the journey of the ten tracks, but the album could benefit from exploring more layers of instrumentation and sound experimentation.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Whatever picking you want to do, it doesn't take away from the fact that <em>Made for This</em> is a near-perfect debut album for a rising star in the Australian hip hop scene. Keep an eye on JK-47, as he is one local artist that may soon be well-known Australia wide.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Franz Dowling.</span></span></p>
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