Western Sydney First Nations hip-hop festival Ngana Birrung returns for its second year next month, headlined by JK-47 and A.GIRL.
Ngana Birrung takes place across three nights in three different parts of Western Sydney. All three will be headlined by JK-47, with an event at the Campbelltown Arts Center on February 15 also featuring Keely, Prodikal-1, T Breezy and Walkerboy.
Another event, at Rosehill Bowling Club on February 17, will include DJ Kapital J and Keely, with more to be announced. This year’s Ngana Birrung concludes the following night at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Center in Penrith, with A.GIRL, Keely and Prodikal-1 also on the bill.
Tickets for the Campbelltown and Penrith events will both be free, while tickets for the Rosehill event will cost $5 including booking fee. Main here for more information and to purchase tickets.
Ngana Birrung – Dharug word for ‘black stars’, pronounced Nin-Ghana Bir-Rung – is a City of Parramatta Council initiative “to elevate First Nations artists and bring together some of the best talent in the country”.
The first edition of the event took place last year as part of the Parramatta Nights programme, with events in Blacktown and Bankstown following. Artists who have previously performed as part of Ngana Birrung include Briggs, Miiesha, DOBBY and Denni.
“We are so proud of our Ngana Birrung concert series and excited to see it expand to reach more audiences in Western Sydney,” City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis said in a statement. “It’s important that we provide a platform to nurture, celebrate and highlight our incredibly talented First Nations artists.”
After releasing debut album ‘Made for This’ in 2020, the following year saw JK-47 cover 2Pac’s ‘Changes’ for triple j’s As a version, perform on Nerve’s track ‘One in a Million’ and perform on the Sydney Opera House forecourt for the Indigenous led and culturally diverse music show Barrabuwari. He was also the recipient of the Levi’s Music Prize in 2021 and dropped the standalone single ‘Healing’.
Last year the JK-47 reappeared As a version, joins Miiesha for a cover of Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’. He also shared a new single titled ‘At One (reVision)’ and detailed his second studio album, ‘Revision for Regrowth’. The album was originally supposed to be released last year, but was pushed back and is now set to arrive sometime in 2023.