One month after Australia voted ‘no’ to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, rapper and Malyangapa, Barkindji woman Barkaa has dropped a clapback with the cutting single ‘Division’.
‘Division’ was made before the results were released, and Barkaa had originally hoped that the track would never see the light of day. But as the prospect of a no vote became clear on October 14, she began to ready it for release. In a press statement Barkaa says, “I was just so sad. But then a part of me was like, ‘At least I’m not crazy. Everything I’ve been feeling is real, is the truth. The nation’s rejection of us confirms it.”
The accompanying video shows Barkaa ferociously rapping to a man wearing a cap in the Australian green and gold. They sit across from each other, making direct eye contact, as she spits: “I don’t want your table, fuck your table and its weak legs / Fuck your constitution, you can keep it for them rednecks / And everytime you look at us, I hope it makes you fuckers sweat.”
Watch the music video for Barkaa’s ‘Division’ below.
The song also takes aim at the structural disadvantages and racial disparities faced by many First Nations people in Australia. “I’m sick of my mob locked up, all over petty crimes,” she raps, “White man gets let off and the Blackfullas lose a life.”
‘Division’ is Barkaa’s rebuke of the ‘no’ campaign, which she says “encouraged a nation to be dumb”. In her press statement, she adds, “It encourages a nation not to read and to be stupid. Like, why are you encouraging people not to read about their country’s own constitution and their country’s own laws?”
She also draws attention to one ‘Division’ lyric that goes: “We ain’t done yet”. “Now you’ve said ‘No’ to the Voice proposal, you’re gonna be hearing a lot more from us,” says Barkaa. “We’re going to keep shaping and adapting and moving as a culture. The referendum rejection is just a little blip. The rejection is a speck in our survival story. Our timeline is 65,000-years-plus of survival. Our destinies are our families. There’s no white saviour ship. And f*ck reconciliation. We don’t want it no more.”
Barkaa joins other Blak artists in releasing songs addressing the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. On October 5, a week before the referendum, A.B. Original released the track ‘Yes’, featuring DJ Total Eclipse and Marlon. Then a few days after the referendum, Tasman Keith dropped a previously unreleased song titled ‘Left Right’.
‘Division’ is Barkaa’s first release since her debut EP ‘Blak Matriarchy’ was released in 2022 by Briggs’ label Bad Apples Music. That same year it was nominated for two ARIA Awards – Best Hip hop/Rap Release and Best Video for ‘Blak Matriarchy’.