The artist has also shared his new single, Run Dingo.
Image: Supplied.
Yuin artist, producer and radio host, Nooky has today announced the launch of We Are Warriors, a cultural movement and platform that aims to inspire and empower Indigenous youth by connecting them with First Nations role models. The announcement is accompanied by the release of the artists moving new single, Run Dingo.
Having partnered with global creative agency R/GA, Nooky has spent over 18 months developing the platform, and building a space that celebrates Blak excellence. We Are Warriors will provide Indigenous youth a chance to engage with content and workshops that strives to empower each viewer and participant to strive for greatness. Launching today with a series of video interviews featuring Barkaa, Kobie Dee, Charlee Fraser, Felicia Foxx, Luke Currie-Richardson and Nooky himself, the initiative will extend into work shops and a clothing line which will see all proceeds reinvested into further content development.
Speaking of We Are Warriors, Nooky shares: “After experiencing racism as a kid, my Mum spoke to me three of the most powerful words I have ever heard – We Are Warriors. It instilled a fire inside of me, a sense of pride and this unimaginable desire to be successful and show the world that WE ARE WARRIORS. It gave me the push to defy all of the odds stacked against us. This journey has led me to launch a platform to highlight prolific Indigenous excellence across music, fashion, sports and everything in between; a celebration of Blak excellence to empower young people in our community. We deserve to be recognised, we deserve to be heard and we deserve to be celebrated. As people. As role models. As warriors."
Joining the movement are six Indigenous ambassadors, all of who are trailblazers within their own respective fields. Bala Luke or Luke Currie-Richardson, descendant of the Kuku Yalanji and Djabugay peoples, the Mununjali Clan of South East Queensland, the Butchulla clan of Fraser Island and the Meriam people of the Eastern Torres Straits Islands, is a celebrated multi-disciplinary storyteller across poetry, dance and photography. Malyangapa, Barkindji woman and rising rapper, BARKAA is a fellow signee to Bad Apples Music, who recently released her superb EP Blak Matriarchy and challenged the hip-hop landscape. Internationally acclaimed model Charlee Fraser, who counts an unrivalled list of editorial and campaign milestones, holds an impassioned vision for First Nations fashion and design. Proud Kamilaroi and Dhungutti drag star from Campbelltown, Felicia Foxx has led the float parade of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and is an advocate for Indigenous body image issues. Rounding out the ambassadors is Gomeroi rapper from Maroubra, Bidjigal Land Kobie Dee who has long credited the importance of role models to his journey, via his own Know Role Models podcast, community-run block parties and musical output.
Featuring a sample from blues musician and activist, Black Allen Barker, Run Dingo continues Nooky's impassioned principles, with the track navigating his own experiences as an Indigenous youth and his hopes for future generations. The track arrives alongside a powerful visual, directed by Josh Lee.
“The concept for Run Dingo came about last Invasion Day when I was sitting at home with my daughter. I was thinking about the prejudice and racism I experienced as a child growing up here in Australia and how my daughter was inevitably going to experience those things too. Invasion Day is a draining day for us and I started laying down how I was feeling sitting there with my daughter reflecting on my childhood. One of my brother boys had shown me a song called ‘Run Dingo Run’ by Black Allen Barker back in 2010 with the idea that I should sample it. The lyrics in the song talk about the dingo cullings and there being a price on a dingos head, drawing a comparison with blackfullas. Like Allen, I feel there’s a price on our heads too, especially when being vocal about certain issues and topics. I took the song idea and sample to one of my main producers, Solo, and that’s how Run Dingo was born.” Nooky adds of his new single.
Run Dingo is out now! Watch the visual below and visit We Are Warriors to view all the ambassador interviews.