Blak thought, theory and analysis from so-called-Australia

EST 2023

CULTURE, LITERATURE
April 17, 2026

Mob Guide to Sydney Writers' Festival

Sydney Writers’ Festival brings a broad community together to celebrate books, writing and ideas. It's also one of the biggest and best in the world (us Awesome Black team have been going for years). This year’s theme – Show Me The Truth – is an invitation to engage with the many ways writers bring the truth to life.

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Latest articles

Music
MUSIC
March 20, 2026

NEW BLAK MUSIC PLAYLISTS

Your go-to for new tracks from some of our favourite Blak artists updated monthly — now streaming on Tidal, Spotify and Amazon. Genre agnostic and always deadly.

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MUSIC, REVIEW
March 2, 2026

LIVE REVIEW: MR RHODES AT THE TROCADERO ROOM

Mr Rhodes steps up and instantly injects such undeniable energy into the room it’s hard not to smile and catch a groove — out of nowhere the dance floor has filled.

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MUSIC, REVIEW
March 2, 2026

REVIEW: COOEE – MESSENGERS

Whilst the core of Cooee is the duo of Kirli Saunders and Mark Chester Harding, they have been able to build bigger worlds and community through song. The best projects bring the Mob along with them, and this is what Cooee is able to do so effortlessly — a community centred on Blak joy and self-expression.

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MUSIC, REVIEW
February 9, 2026

REVIEW: Boox Kid - Barang Ngarang Kadjin (SOS)

Boox Kid has highlighted the power of connection to place, people and Country all while making you tap your foot. This happy track gives us something to look forward to. Go for a cruise along the coastline on a nice day and throw this song on in the car.

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Review, Music
February 6, 2026

REVIEW: Cooee – Yadingji

Creating a hook with a language word in the chorus has you singing gratitude long after this track ends, and we give yadingji to Cooee for this bright, Blak and heartened release. This one is a must for your driving playlist — just make sure you’re on a journey back home.

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REVIEW, MUSIC
January 30, 2026

REFLECTIONS FROM MEREDITH MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025

As we bounced between the campsite and the amphitheatre, I was reminded of the power of late-night conversations. The type of yarns that are both nonsense yet solving the world's problems at the same time. 

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MUSIC
January 23, 2026

Premiere: Source Decay – Dirtbag Charlie

Source Decay sits at the intersection of noise, narrative, and cultural critique — pulling from punk, hip-hop, and experimental traditions to build something deliberately unstable, loud and alive.

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MUSIC
January 21, 2026

LIVE REVIEW: Krystal Rivvers album preview

What to say? Brotherman Earl Weir is a song man. A proper storyteller. As the Krystal Rivvers frontman, he holds space and invites you into the narrative, like he’s channeling his ancestral energy to carry these stories forward.

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Music, Review
November 26, 2025

REVIEW: Miss Kaninna – Homerun on the Backstreets

Miss Kaninna’s new single Backstreets lands as a blistering mix of vulnerability and power. Blending R’n’B, pop and rock with tight, energetic production, the track dives into love turned messy and the cost of cultural compromise. Raw, honest and deadly — another standout chapter from one of Blak music’s sharpest voices.

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Awesome Black Studio acknowledges the Traditional Owners & Custodians of lands throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.