Five questions for James Alberts on IndigenousX
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Version 0 of 1. Tell us about who you are, where you are from, and what you do What up! Larrakia, Bardi, Wadamon and Yanuwa nations all up in your area. School drop out turned rapper, DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, creative genius, dreamer. Aside from doing music, I’ve spent the last decade travelling Australia working with youth, teaching about the importance of things like self expression, identity, purpose and just plain owning life. We do this by using hip hop as a tool to engage the youngins, because hip hop is cool. Labels such as “political” have been used to describe my music, but I don’t see anything I talk about as “politics”, but rather life. I’m passionate about life, in whatever form or shape it manifests itself. What do you plan to focus on during your week as host of @IndigenousX? I plan on focusing on music, why Australia Day is such an unpleasant time for much of Indigenous Australia, and also why our nation as a whole needs a big reality check in terms of how we view ourselves and how we behave. We do have the potential for greatness, but we ain’t quite there yet. Don’t get me wrong, I do see this “great Australian spirit” that many talk of, when the fires come through, when the flood waters rise, yet it’s sad that we choose who we offer a lending hand to, who we offer our generosity, who we offer our compassion and whom we open up our hearts to. What issues are you most passionate about and why? I’m passionate about life. It sucks to look at the world and see how many of us place so much value on material substance over the lives of a fellow human being, how we are so divided, how we view ourselves and our self-worth depending on class, race, sex, nationality etc. I’m passionate about we, as a whole, finally seeing that we are all one, that what connects us is far greater than anything that separates us. Who are your role models, and why? I look up to my fam, and to the dreamers of the world. If it wasn’t for forward thinkers who first started depicting life on a cave wall, where would we be? Dreamers are often shunned now, and our society is reminiscent of an oversized warehouse factory where we all line up on an assembly line while capitalism minds its investment. Those who dare to see things differently, those who aren’t content with being told of all they can amount to, those who seek out evolution and aren’t afraid to act on it, that’s hero stuff right there. What are your hopes for the future? For the future, I want to see us all come correct. I’m in absolute awe of the universe, but I don’t think we have quite earned our place among the stars yet. |