Proud Malyangapa, Barkindji woman BARKAA proves she’s an absolute queen with her new single “King Brown.” I love this track’s empowering lyrics and the way she’s effortlessly married hip hop sounds with some Latin flavour. This is absolute fire.
“I was in a very toxic relationship for years and it did its toll on my confidence and my self-esteem was really low,” BARKAA explained. “I believed in my head I deserved that kind of love at one point. But then after relearning, getting to know myself again and seeing my worth I could never look back. King Brown is just a f*ck you to my ex basically, it’s cheeky, it’s comical and it’s fun … I guess with King Brown I wanted to show that side of me. I made the decision to cut a lot of ties not only for my mental health and well-being, but for my babies. Love is a doing word and if it isn’t actioned it has no room in mine or my babies’ lives. This is a track for my sisters to keep their head up too, to feel good again, and to put their middle fingers up at those who don’t deserve us.”
BARKAA filmed the music video in Sydney with Paven Gill of Sonder Films.
“As soon as we heard the song we knew we wanted strong scenes/visuals to match the energy of the song, especially the vibe of the production,” said Paven. “After listening to the lyrics we wanted to focus on the visuals that show strength, confidence, family, culture while still keeping the overall vibe to be fun and energetic.”
“King Brown” gives us our first taste of BARKAA’s debut EP Blak Matriarchy. And what a taste it is!
Image used with permission from Island Records Australia; credit: Luke Currie-Richardson