PHOTO CREDIT: Michelle Grace Hunder
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY https://www.thebigissue.org.au #588, JUNE 2019
With creative powerhouse Briggs at its helm, record label Bad Apples is set to push Indigenous musicians squarely into the spotlight.
BRIGGS. One name for one man with many guises. A rapper with a unique sense of humour that’s made him a regular on the ABC’s The Weekly. A Simpsons fan invited to write for creator Matt Groening on his new Netflix series, Disenchantment. The man who made music for Indigenous sci-fi series Cleverman while playing the character Maliyan. The solo artist who teamed with producer Trials to create the earth-shaking duo A.B. Original. The Yorta Yorta man from Shepparton emblazoned with tattoos honouring his people. And, in what may turn out to be his most significant role yet, record label boss at Bad Apples.
“[I’m] trying to change the way that Australians perceive what Indigenous artists can be and who they are,” Adam Briggs says ahead of the Bad Apples showcase, taking place at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Live.
Bad Apples is helmed by Briggs and label manager Coco Eke, who together nurture the careers of hip-hop artists BIRDZ, Nooky and Philly. The label is also home to A.B. Original.
“I don’t think it was as reactionary as people might think,” he muses of the label’s creation. “We often spoke, for the last few years, of how there was a lack of representation and there always has been, you know? The label doesn’t feel like a reaction to that; it feels like it’s actively trying to change the space and what the scene looked like. We were just trying to create a new lane, a new pathway.”
As one of the artists who has forged a career on this new pathway, emcee BIRDZ details the significance of Bad Apples Music when it’s come to his own creative direction: “When I first joined [the label], it was exciting to have a home and a support network,” he says. “It’s a label, but it’s a family and a home. There’s really no other way to describe it. I was excited about joining a movement that was led by someone that understood who I was and where I came from.”
Releasing his debut album Train of Thought to industry acclaim in 2017, the Melbourne-based rapper has become a fixture on stages around the country, and is acknowledged as an important new voice of Australian hip-hop. The confidence to opine as strongly and freely as he has stems from the support of Briggs and Bad Apples.
“I have a vision and they’re like, ‘This is how you make it great’,” he says. “Just having that support and having them reaffirming and instilling that confidence in me, that’s really been significant. Those kinds of things led to me making an album I wanted to make and to be recognised the way it was recognised.”
Similarly, fellow Bad Apples artists Nooky and Philly have undergone immense levels of creative change in the years since their signing. Young artists cutting their teeth on stages and behind the production desk, they are prime examples of Australian excellence born out of determination and hunger for success.
Briggs is full of praise. “The growth of dudes like Nooky — being such a fantastic producer as well — watching that part of his career grow over the last couple of years [has been great]. Being able to be there for Phil, and helping guide him through his album and video; just being able to be there for these dudes at this point and also having the scope to grow it.”
The ambition and broadened scope have culminated in a handful of successfully curated events, where Bad Apples have been able to give more emerging artists a platform – an exciting indicator of the kind of Indigenous talent approaching the precipice of wider acclaim.
“Bad Apples did two all female line-ups for the Brunswick Music Festival and the Parramasala one in Parramatta.” Briggs says. “That was a conscious effort on our behalf over the last 18 months. I was like, ‘Look, it’s really easy for us to sign black men rappers, they’re everywhere! If we want to make the impact we want to make across the community, we need to be representative of the community’.
“It’s the exact same execution and method that we had when we started the label,” he continues. “It’s like, ‘There’s not enough blackfella rappers who have pathways, let’s make one.’ Alright, now we’ve done that, how do we bring in women and how do we make them feel safe and comfortable as well? Let’s work at that. I understand that I’m a dude in that world too, so I’m trying to navigate that and be as helpful as possible.”
For BIRDZ, this Sydney Opera House event in particular is exciting to be a part of. “It’s a real example of where Bad Apples is heading and it feels like there’s no real limit. I think that’s a big thing. For so long, a lot of us had felt there was a limit on us, but Bad Apples has really shown that there isn’t.”