Weprofilefiveofthehottest
artistswhoareclimbingthe
charts, breaking the Internet
or just dominating our
officestereos...SOUNDS LIKE:The vital voice of an Indig-
enous Australian MC spitting knowledge
and raising hell over immaculate production
and banging beats.
FOR FANS OF:Briggs, A.B. Original,
Funkoars, Downsyde
WHY YOU SHOULD PAY
ATTENTION:Melbourne-based rapper Na-
than Bird (aka Birdz) grew up in Katherine
in the Northern Territory, music grabbing
him at a young age thanks to Michael Jack-
son. (“That’s my earliest memory – hearing
Thriller,Off the Wall...Iwasahuge fan.”)
Hip-hop was introduced to a teenage Bird
when a school friend played him N.W.A
and Ice Cube. “I loved everything about
Cube,” says Bird. “The way he told stories
and represented where he was from – just
saying how it was with no filter.” Bird began
to write his own raps and perform them at
school assembly with a live band, eventually
leading up to signing with rapper Briggs’
label Bad Apples Music two years ago.
Recorded largely at Bird’s home since his
signing with a variety of musical collabora-
tors, debut LPTrain of Thoughtis out this
month.
HE SAYS:“I guess growing up in the North-
ern Territory I had my fair share of run-ins
with racism, so I really gravitated towards
hip-hop, like, ‘This is mad – I can actually
express how I feel and say what I wanna say
in the space of three minutes.’ Growing up
in a small town, listening to Ice Cube was
like a window into the outside world to let
me know there was something outside of
Katherine.”
HEAR FOR YOURSELF:Incendiary single
“Black Lives Matter”. “I’ve seen that song
have a real impact,” says Bird, “and that
means so much.” JAMES JENNINGSBirdz
46 |Rolling Stone|RollingStoneAus.com
The Future
Is Now
October, 2017