Soul Has No Tempo welcomes Miss Kaninna, announces debut single 'Blak Britney'

 

“I have never heard the crowd scream so loud in adoration for an artist at PANAMA than when Miss Kaninna played."
- Tim Carroll, Creative Director, A Festival Called PANAMA

"You mob ain’t fuckin ready for this one! Sis bout to change it up and I can’t wait to see what she’s got in the bag for us tiddas ✊🏽"
- Barkaa

"Miss Kaninna is a force, an icon in the making. An artist that is destined for a huge career! I’m excited to watch her journey, Blak Britney is just the beginning. Watch this space !!"
- Jesswar

Following powerful live appearances at festivals like Dark Mofo, Pangaea, Party In The Paddock, MONA FOMA, The Great Escape, and A Festival Called PANAMA, proud Yorta Yorta, Djadja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali woman Miss Kaninna (she/her) shares her captivating, staunch debut single 'Blak Britney', a bouncing earworm of a track the Naarm/Melbourne-via-lutruwita/Tasmania artist describes as an "anti-establishment anthem". 'Blak Britney' is released on Thursday 4 May via her brand new label home Soul Has No Tempo, with Miss Kaninna appearing at Yirramboi Festival on Saturday 6 May - details below.

An undeniably powerful introduction that showcases a unique talent for bold songwriting and provocative lyricism, the inspiration for 'Blak Britney' came via Miss Kaninna's fascination with the "Black Barbie'' concept or character, her respect for Blak women making moves with their own music locally, and her overarching mission to bring new representation to the scene and to dismantle oppressive structures in the colony. With her razor-sharp bars laid coolly over elasticated synths, crisp percussion sitting right in the pocket, and a sparse, syncopated bass groove, 'Blak Britney' takes in elements of pop, rap and R&B, also featuring impactful samples including a car crash and grunts from her brother and uncle for added "ouss", a heavy, unrelenting bridge and plenty of adlibs that Miss Kaninna describes as her "talking shit", and was produced by Finn Rees (30/70, Close Counters) with additional production from Jack McLain (Sumner, Holy Holy).

Miss Kaninna says: "'Blak Britney' is a fuck you to the government - a call of empowerment to Blak women. I’m so sick of not being represented in the music scene here in so-called “Australia”. Fuck the government and fuck the police."

Miss Kannina is "a Blak girl in the colony trying to uplift [her] community", already a seasoned performer thanks to a history of growing up in a musical community & sitting side stage touring with her mother (musician, activist and facilitator Ruth Langford). She was accepted into WAAPA, eventually going on to be cast as Cynthia in the national theatre tour of The Sapphires, a role that led to her pivotal permanent move to Naarm, where her solo project began to take shape.

Her art is a powerful expression of her experiences as a young Blak woman in so-called Australia, drawing from the rich cultural heritage and paths laid before her by her Matriarchs. Miss Kaninna's grandmother, Rosalind Langford, was a famous painter and renowned activist who played a vital role in starting the Aboriginal Information Service (AIS) in the 70s, the first Aboriginal organisation in Iutruwita/Tasmania, at a time when the state denied the existence of Aboriginal people despite accepting Commonwealth money for them. Her mother Ruth engages in work with the Indigenous Women’s Legal Centre for women experiencing violence in the family and is the founder of ‘Nayri Niara’, an Aboriginal social enterprise that works to uplift local communities.

In her first public appearance following the release of her debut single, Miss Kaninna will also be performing at Yirramboi Festival's The Uncle Archie Roach Block Party alongside Amos Roach, Kobie Dee, Nooky, Kutcha Edwards, Keely and many more at Naarm's Section 8, and co-facilitating and performing spoken word poetry in the festival's Yung Tent Embassy with Deline Briscoe the same day.

Expect more to come from Miss Kaninna in 2023.


CATCH MISS KANINNA LIVE

Saturday 6 May - Yirramboi Festival: Yung Tent Embassy w/ Deline Briscoe | FREE ENTRY

Saturday 6 May - Yirramboi Festival: The Uncle Archie Roach Block Party w/ Amos Roach, Julai, Keely, Nooky, Kobie Dee, Kutcha Edwards & more | FREE ENTRY

 
ArtistsGavin BoydMiss KaninnaComment