This week’s 8CCC Feature Album is from proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali woman Naarm/Melbourne-via-lutriwita/Tasmania artist Miss Kaninna.
Completed as she took a step back from a hectic touring schedule & festival season which saw her live show win over new legions of fans internationally and in so-called-Aus, KANINNA showcases the multi-award-winning artist’s jaw-dropping range and reflects the music she grew up loving, from hip hop, rap, R&B and pop with African & Middle Eastern influences thanks to a fruitful collaboration with producer YAOB (Dean Brady, KYE, Adrian Eagle). Exploring ideas of freedom, sexuality and reasserting dominance, each track acts as a “theme song” for a feeling captured in time, from revenge, love and lust to empowerment and “cheeky bullshit” – with Miss Kaninna’s staunch anti-colonial message never far away. KANINNA challenges social perceptions of Aboriginal music, inviting listeners to expand their understanding – “I believe I absolutely have the capabilities of creating powerful political music that liberates the people, but I also have the capability to create music that just makes you feel good. Not all our music has to have trauma at the heart of it – we deserve to feel good about ourselves,” she shares of her “Black pop” – reclaiming full use of the word ‘Black’ (rather than ‘Blak’) to “Collectively refer to Black & Indigenous people globally rather than setting Aboriginal people apart & diluting their Blackness.”
In August, the 8CCC crew caught her set at the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) in Darwin and the KANINNA EP dropped on 20 September. She’s been announced on the final Bluesfest lineup, is gearing up to play Listen Out, performed at Wonder Mountain, and has her debut headline tour supported by triple j in November.
Check it out on Spotify!