Whoop whooop it s official baby wasn t sure if i was going to be part 1
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2 months ago
takarathekoala
Whoop Whooop it s official baby Wasn t sure if I was going to be attending SXSW in Texas this year but I couldn t pass up the opportunity to perform on behalf on my home country Australia Growing up I as well as most PoC were othered and made to feel like although we were Australian we were actually something other and just happened to be born in Australia I was always told you re not Australian you re African even though I was SO disconnected from Africa thanks to ya know slavery I felt like I didn t belong anywhere because I wasn t allowed to be Australian When I moved to America the first time I also realized how many people didn t even know there were PoC in Australia which is craaaazy to me With the lack of real opportunity in Australia I would audition for X Factor and Australian Idol every single year and always got told I didn t have the right look Eventually you realize who they think does have the right look and it wasn t anybody brown who wasn t white passing I built up a lot of spite for the Aussie music industry so much so that I was determined to prove to them that a non-white-passing Black Australian could succeed on a global stage regardless And here we are 6 years of grinding in and around the US and I ve finally been claimed by my home country I feel a mix of emotions The fear of still being too much and too outspoken about my own personal lived experience with the racism and lack of diversity in Australia and the Aussie music industry first and foremost but also just a sense of belonging finally and feeling welcomed and wanted by my country Kinda fucked up I know I have a lot of trauma from growing up Black in Australia but this is a really huge turning point for me and has given me SO much more of a drive to be a voice for underrepresent Australians on a global stage