Carriageworks Vivid Sydney: Music program expands with First Nations pirate radio takeover

Powerful, diverse, on-the-pulse. Since it opened in 2007, Carriageworks has always cut through with trend-setting curation. So it’s no surprise to see their Vivid Sydney music program full of experimental sounds, diverse tastes and a few genre-specific legends.

Released today, the full Carriageworks Vivid Music lineup adds to an already exciting stack of artists, which include hip hop legends Black Star, new-age jazz icon Kamasi Washington and house-techno DJ Mall Grab.

But most potent is the new addition of a First Nations-led venue takeover by collective Awesome Black, which has worked with the venue’s curators to put together Echoes of the Block: A Live & Local Blak Hip Hop Collaboration.

Pitched as a “live pirate radio station”, the fusion of live music will take a very open approach to the creative process, fiercely determined to fuse the increasingly popular hip hop scene that’s been coming local Aboriginal artists like DOBBY, Mr Rhodes, Izzy, ChillCheney, Minty, Prodikal-1, The Chaza, Emerald Brunt and Yung Brother.

All those artists will be coming together across the three-day festival, penciled in for June 5-8 with many more artists still to be announced. Koori Radio, Sydney’s only First Nations radio station, will also have a presence, providing an open studio where artists will create, collaborate and experiment during the day while attendees are welcomed into the creative process.

And it’s all free.

*Echoes of the Block: A Live & Local Blak Hip Hop Collaboration* *will showcase the creativity of First Nations hip hop (photo supplied).*

Free daytime sessions won’t be ticketed but you’ll need to pre-register for the evening sessions which are scheduled over June 6-8. Anyone can show up and witness Sydney’s First Nations hip hop scene evolve in real-time as these creative minds come together to push the culture forward, before broadcasts go live each night.

“Uncensored and direct from the streets to the stage,” reads a press release sent out of the media today, celebrating the indelible connection Mob has shared with Gadigal Land for millenia. That’s the idea behind this full-force venue takeover, nodding to the notion that Blak hip hop (a designation that represents First Nations rap) is very much in the same profoundly explosive era that pulled hip hop from the cracks and fissures of New York and Los Angeles streets back in the early 90s.

“The inspiration for Echoes of the Block goes back to Duck Rock: Malcolm McLaren’s chaotic, globe-trotting pirate radio album that played on repeat in my house growing up,” said Awesome Black Founder & Creative Director Travis De Vries.

“That record was wild, joyful and deeply problematic. McLaren didn’t credit the Black musicians who built it. So I wanted to rebuild that energy, but centre Mob voices, pay proper dues, and do it our way.”

Black Star — *Legendary New York rappers Mos Def and Talib Kewli bring a legacy of socially-conscious hip hop to Carriageworks (photo supplied).*

Why this concept is such a big deal for Sydney’s music scene

As a culture and a wonderfully expressive art form, hip hop has never been about the ostentation and give-them-what-they-want problematic lyrics that dominate media headlines these days. At it’s core, the art has always been about finding your voice, often amongst great hardship, struggle and generational trauma.

Which is why it’s always resonated the most strongly with disenfranchised communities in countries like France (eg MC Solaar), Ireland (eg Kneecap) and Australia (eg Briggs), with a legacy of unfiltered and revolutionary social commentary pioneered by US rappers like Ice Cube and Scarface.

While an overbearing sense of performative toughness and commercialisation has muddied the waters for hip hop since, there’s still that sense of it being the most powerful and potent tool for minorities to better their own lives, inspire others to do the same, and advocate for themselves and their communities

To me, personally, hip hop has always been what the media is largely not: authentic. It’s messy, raw, honest, dynamic, far-from-perfect and, at its best, iconoclastic.

So to see First Nations hip hop becoming more popular, not just around Australia, but in countries like the USA and Europe, is something that deserves an innovative platform, such as Echoes of the Block.

In many ways, this beats at the heart of Vivid Sydney in a way that goes much deeper than digestible dinners with Nigella Lawson and talks by high-profile media executives. The festival is built to celebrate creativity in all its forms, and there’s little that’s more creative than marginalised communities working closely and collaboratively to transmute their thoughts into rhythm and poetry.

There’s a good reason why Chuck D, of legendary hip hop ground Public Enemy, has been so active in supporting and encouraging our local First Nations hip hop scene every time the group has toured down under in the past. And having both Talib Kewli and Mos Def (as Black Star) at Carriageworks this year should hopefully lead to a few cross-cultural exchanges as well, given that both New York rappers have always made a point to show hip hop’s socially-conscious core.

*In addition to a powerful hip hop presence, Carriageworks will also host plenty of dance and electronic music (photo supplied).*

Carriageworks will be a hub of diversity for Vivid Sydney

In addition to this incredible pirate radio concept, Carriageworks has put together one of the most exciting lineups in Vivid history. Both homegrown and international artists that sit across soul, jazz, indie rock, R&B, funk and electronica will take part, turning the institution into a vibrant, Brooklyn-style hub of creativity

Alongside Echoes of the Block, Carriageworks presents a powerful live music program spearheaded by homegrown and international artists pushing boundaries across soul, jazz, indie rock, R&B, funk and electronic sound. Just some of the names locked in for concerts in the space include:

Mall Grab with RONA, Oots and Claire O’Brien
Kamasi Washington with Micah Heathwood
Skeggs with The Buoys and Fool Nelson
Ngaiire’s PAIA
DIIV with Negative Gears
moktar with Tash LC, Wax’o Paradiso & Ben Fester, Anusha
Pure Space & Butter Sessions: Andy Garvey and Sleep D with Diskonnected and Wings of D’sire
Black Star
Echoes of the Block: A Live & Local Blak Hip Hop Collaboration

The Carraigeworks Vivid Sydney 2025 program takes place from Thursday, June 5 to Saturday, June 14. Registrations are now open and tickets are on sale now.