‘Good work is hard work’: Rapper Briggs adds best-selling author to his credits as he releases long-awaited Always Was record
If you have a spare 10 minutes in your day, think What Would Briggs Do? The rapper, actor, comedy writer, author and activist is back to music with Always Was EP.
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A day in the life of one of Australia’s pre-eminent renaissance creatives Briggs is an inspiring collage of can-do.
The award-winning rapper, independent label owner, Hollywood comedy writer and Beats 1 radio show host has added best-selling author, sleep playlist narrator and suave virtual APRA Music Awards host to his volume of eclectic credits in the past three months.
He has also devoted considerable social media minutes, via the handle Senator Briggs, to advocate for social justice, call out racism and address myriad inequalities for First Nations people.
And he’s put in extra hours to fundraising ventures during the pandemic shutdown.
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Extra Extra, a track on the long-awaited EP Always Was which drops on Friday, explains his drive to “make things” and “good work is hard work” philosophy.
“If I wanna watch something that’s inane, like wrestling, I have to put it on in the background while I do something else, I feel intense guilt when I don’t do work, it’s weird,” he says, chuckling.
Heralding this week’s release of the long-awaited EP — also finished during lockdown with his go-to producers Trials and Jayteehazard — is the single Go To War with one of his regular musical collaborators Thelma Plum.
It’s a haunting yet typically fierce slice of hip hop from the Yorta Yorta MC and soulful Gamilaraay singer, united in their fearlessness as they sing about the frustrations of navigating a life in two worlds.
Briggs says the marriage of rap and soul vocals on their powerful musical protest reflects his need for balance in his work.
“It’s light and dark, yin and yang, it’s the balance,” he says. “I feel like the universe is built on balance.
“Thelly doesn’t shy away from speaking her mind and nor should she or should anyone, I like that. It costs everyone to do that, especially if you’re black.” How does he balance the cost? “Money,” he says with a hearty chuckle.
The Always Was EP is his first solo body of work in three years, and follows his ARIA award-winning collaboration Reclaim Australia with his good mate Trials as the hip-hop duo A.B. Original.
Its six tracks are a mix of comedic-flavoured hip hop and politically-charged commentary, a balance he struck deftly with another mate Tim Minchin on their pandemically-themed House Fyre single, which lobbed unexpectedly in April.
“The EP’s a taste-tester for the album (Briggs for PM) which I am making at the same time,” he says,
“I took these six joints, which represent different aspects of my personality, different ideas and a lot more fun on there too, to get something out sooner.”
Another aspect of his personality was revealed on Our Home, Our Heartbeat, the children’s picture book he released in May which became an instant bestseller.
“That’s cool, what do I get? You get the quiet achievement of beating Bluey for a week,” he says.
The father of a young daughter noticed his fans and friends were “growing up and having kids” and wanted to create a book with a message of tolerance and celebration of indigenous legends, partly adapted from his 2015 song The Children Came Back.
He says the idea reflects his “special power to see the space where something is missing.”
He lists examples of this power including the debut solo album ShepLife, rap which chose to speak to the rural heartland instead of Australia’s cities.
“It was rap for (hometown) Shepparton, which is the same as Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Dubbo — all those towns in the middle, not near a beach,” he says.
The intention of the Reclaim Australia album (it’s a pun title!) was to give Australian hip hop it’s “Public Enemy or N.W.A moment.”
And Our Home, Our Heartbeat is the book he hadn’t seen on the shelves of the children’s section.
“What was the book that I didn’t have when I was a kid? I wanted a book for every kid, so it would make an indigenous kid feel more comfortable seeing themselves and might even make other kids more comfortable being able to relate, especially if you are a fair-skinned kid who doesn’t look like a postcard Aboriginal kid,” he says.
“I wanted to tell people our identity isn’t bound by the hue of our skin. There’s all these parts that make up our communities.”
Briggs already has a considerable resume as an actor and writer for television via the ABC sketch series Black Comedy and scifi drama Cleverman and was tapped by legendary Simpsons creator Matt Groening to join the writing team for his Netflix animated sitcom Disenchantment.
He doesn’t hesitate to nominate the prize at the top of his to-do list.
“Feature film. Everyone’s like ‘do Hamilton’. No, I don’t know nuthin’ about theatre,” he says. You just know he’s going to write a play.
Always Was is out on August 21.
SONGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
The recent National Indigenous Music Awards cast the spotlight on the depth and musical diversity of First Nations artists.
Homecoming Queen, Thelma Plum
There isn’t a contemporary music awards in Australia which hasn’t featured Thelma Plum’s name courtesy of her acclaimed Better In Blak record. This song was inspired by growing up not seeing anyone like herself in magazines or on television.
Kid Laroi
The 16-year-old Australian rapper has cracked the US top 10 with his mixtape F*CK LOVE, propelled by the single Go featuring his late mentor JUICE WRLD.
Baker Boy
The NIMAS prince picked up artist, song and film clip gongs last week. Just go to your streaming service and play everything from his award-winning Meditjin to latest infectious groove Move.
Miiesha
The NIMAS New Talent of the Year winner has created an album perfect for these times with her impressive debut Nyaaringu (which means “what happened” in Pitjantjatjara). Her soulful yet brutal truth-telling hip hop and R & B also features the voice of her grandmother who passed knowledge to this exciting fresh talent.
Sycco
The Brisbane teen alt-pop artist has exploded on the Triple J airwaves with her clutch of earworms including Nicotine, Peacemaker and latest single Sycco.
The Makarrata Project
Midnight Oil’s first new music in almost two decades is a mini-album collaboration with First Nations artists out in October. Its debut single Gadigal Land was released earlier this month with vocal contributions from Dan Sultan, Kaleena Briggs, Bunna Lawrie and poet Joel Davison.
Originally published as ‘Good work is hard work’: Rapper Briggs adds best-selling author to his credits as he releases long-awaited Always Was record