SPOTLIGHT: The Last Kinection
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Our brothers and sisters from down under, The Last Kinection, just released their ever-deadly new album Next of Kin.
The Last Kinection is a trio made up of brother and sister Joel (Weno) and Naomi (Nay) Wenitong from the Kabi Kabi mob of South East Queensland and friend Jacob Turier (DJ Jaytee). Their name speaks to the alarming rate that we are losing our elders to the cycle of life and the dire need to maintain that link to our ancestry. Already 5 times over Deadly Music Award winners, they represent the next generation of Australian Indigenous hip hop artists.
As well as producing their own music they have been touring, offering workshops on the music business, production, singing, MCing and DJ techniques, songwriting and performance. It is important to them to "encourage, guide and give confidence to upcoming artists; allowing them to express themselves in a positive way "and through this giving them pivotal opportunities for healing.
In 2008, The Last Kinection was invited to perform with The Herd on a sold-out national tour. After winning legions of new fans, the morning after their last show, they were victims of a life changing car accident. Nay was in such critical shape that she was declared dead at the scene until Weno noticed the blanket covering her move. Through a lengthy recovery they found the strength to just keep rising higher and higher.
Their opening track Find A Way is a call to flip the victim mentality on it's head. Later on Prove Them Wrong inspires us to be our greatest selves while bumpin away to grimy didgeridoo beats. The general theme throughout is hopeful and proud while still being real about the issues facing us living in colonial capitalism. The album opens with:
We fought so that we could open those doors for you fellas… so you could get inside and change the system, for us, for your people... Now we know that those doors are open and that the biggest employer of Aboriginal people in this country is the government. What we gotta do is get into those young people’s minds ... and say to them, "You’re not changing out the system to suite us. You’re in there and you’re making things comfortable for yourself. You’re failing us and you’re failing your ancestors." That’s something we can do. That’s something we must do.
Listening to their biting, honest lyrics it's clear that the issues facing Indigenous people are worldwide and universal.
The Last Kinection - Next of Kin by Elefant Traks
Support their work by purchasing Next of Kin from independent Aussie hip-hop label Elefant Traks.
Here is the video for the featured track Are We There Yet from their new album.
