+ (614) OUT OF THE BOX BARKAA
TALENT Barkaa
PHOTOGRAPHY & COLLAGE Oliver Wensing
STYLIST Beatrice Van Heeswijk
MUA Celeste Gubb
HAIR Djahmu Claxton-Amini
ART DIRECTION Francesca Nwokeocha
WORDS Akshaya Bhutkar
MAARA Collective top and pants, Dinosaur Designs bangles
MAARA Collective top and pants, Dinosaur Designs bangles
It’s a Tuesday night and the rest of Sydney is slowly wrapping up from an August winter day. As per Sydney standards, shops and cafes have promptly closed at 5:30 pm and the city is wrapping up for the night. This mellow energy is nothing next to Sydney artist BARKAA, fresh off her big win as Artist of the Year at the 2024 National Indigenous Music Awards. BARKAA’s high energy and tenacity is exactly what Sydney’s music scene needs to bring it out of its soft slumber.
I’m greeted on Zoom by a wide-eyed smile from BARKAA.
Youkhana top and skirt, Dinosaur Designs bangles, Stylist’s shoes
MAARA Collective top and pants, Dinosaur Designs bangles
AKSHAYA. So first of all congrats, on winning artist of the year. Give me 3 words for how you’re feeling right now.
BARKAA: Deadly. I’m shocked. Not shocked–I mean, to be put next to my peers in the industry, my idols, they’re my brothers and sisters in the industry. Inspired, I’m ready to work and get ready to work.
AKSHAYA. Your form of storytelling - how did you hone your style of lyricism and rapping?
BARKAA: It’s something that I guess has come naturally, just speaking from the experiences I’ve been through and my mother’s been through. So a lot of everything that I hone is from lived experience and yeah, just life.
AKSHAYA. Do you listen to melody first or is it a very rhythm-driven process?
BARKAA: I’ll listen to a beat first. I tend to find an instrumental. If I’m really vibing to that, the words sort of just flow. Or, even if it’s not words, it just automatically fills in–like in my head I’ll be, “Oh yeah, you can rap on this, you can catch this, this could be something really cool.”
AKSHAYA. The music videos are filled with so much intention and energy. Is visual storytelling something you’re passionate about?
BARKAA: I really love having my people in my music videos, bringing in as many mob as I can into those spaces. Visuals are really important because of representation. For our babies–like that's a visual for them to be able to say, “Hey, she’s Blak like me”, or seeing other little sister girls in the music video [saying], “Hey, she's my age” or “Hey she’s doing this.” You know? When they see their mothers [and] their aunties in the clips, they see themselves.
Visuals are really important because we need representation. I grew up in a society where the only time I saw my people on TV was in a negative connotation, talking down or shining a negative light on my people.
“It’s not Blak excellence, we’re born excellent already.”
[left] MAARA Collective top and pants, Dinosaur Designs bangles [right] Youkhana top and skirt, Dinosaur Designs bangles, Stylist’s shoes
AKSHAYA. When it comes to curating the visuals, how much of the process are you a part of?
BARKAA: I have ideas that I want to bring to life but I like to give the directors freedom to put their own twist or bring their ideas as well. Like with ‘Blak Matriarchy’–I knew I wanted my daughter in there. I wanted my cousin in there.
I have an amazing team behind me and I think it’s all a team effort when it comes to things rolling out. I couldn’t do it without having a staunch team behind me but I do have an input. It’s nice having a big team and having all these ideas where it's brought to life in a way like that.
AKSHAYA. You speak often about growing up in Merrylands, Southwest Sydney. How do you hope to have an impact and inspire kids growing up in similar circumstances who may not have had anyone to look up to?
BARKAA: The little Blak sister girls–I want them to know how amazing they are. We come from the oldest living culture on earth and the reason we’re surviving today is because of that greatness. We adapt, shape and move. I want the little sisters to know that. Even if they don’t feel excellent, excellence is within all Blackfullas. It’s not Blak excellence, we’re born excellent already.
I want those little girls to know those dreams are real–even in housing commission, even in prison. I’ve been through it, I’ve gone down a path where not many people come back from. I just want to show little sister girls that you can make it back from anything. Just because you had a shit past, it doesn’t define you.
I just want young sister girls like me to know if they’re going through it, it’s not a bad life, it’s a bad day. Keep striving and don’t change for nobody. The right people will come.
AKSHAYA. Biggest lesson so far?
BARKAA: That it’s just beginning, there’s more to come. Oh, and get lawyers to write out the contracts with you [laughs]. Yeah, that was a big lesson.
Youkhana top and skirt
“I just want to show little sister girls that you can make it back from anything. Just because you had a shit past, it doesn’t define you. ”
Youkhana top and skirt, Dinosaur Designs bangles
AKSHAYA. Tell me about your new EP, ‘BIG TIDDA’.
BARKAA: It didn’t have a story like ‘Blak Matriarchy’. It’s more of a continuity from there. I just wanted to show different sides of myself. That’s the main story; that I’m no longer putting myself in a box. We’re so used to being put in boxes. Tick this box if you’re Blak, you know? It’s like we’re growing up already being put into boxes…like this is what’s written for you.
I just really wanted to take myself out of the box and be like, “I’m this and also this, and this and that.” I wanted to flex my versatility as an artist and showcase Blak joy, Blak love and the cheekiness we have. When Blackfullas get together, we have the weirdest things to say, but it’s our humour that comes with belly laughs and cackles.
I wanted to show that cheeky side - the cheekiness of the Blaks, the joyous Blak. It’s all the little parts of me mixed together that I haven’t really showcased in my music.
AKSHAYA. How is this EP part of the future you’re building?
BARKAA: It’s a step forward, I’ve grown a lot in these 3 years and my life has changed so much because of my career. My children's lives have changed, my family's lives have changed. This EP is a vision of change and a vision of growth.
AKSHAYA. Ok, rapid-fire questions. Favourite snack?
BARKAA: Oh man, probably chicken crimpies. Oh yeah. They’re good.
AKSHAYA: No they’re good, like, I’m vegetarian, but I turn a blind eye to them.
BARKAA: Nah, they’re perishables, so there's no real chickens.
AKSHAYA. Movie that makes you laugh the most?
BARKAA: White Chicks.
AKSHAYA. Guilty pleasure?
BARKAA: Um, men [laughs]. I mean, chicken crimpies [laughs] It’s like, I wait till my kids are asleep and then I grab my chicken crimpies and I’m like they can’t see this. And then I crunch the box up into a tiny ball outside so they don’t see it.
AKSHAYA. Most played song right now?
BARKAA: ‘Land Back’ by 3%.
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