6am - 7am AEDT
Join us on 18 March for a conversation between Naomi Wenitong, Maya Jupiter, MC Trey, DJ Sarah Love and TrueMENDOUS about the impact of working across regions, and their significant efforts to elevate girls and women of colour in hip-hop in Australia, UK and worldwide. In partnership with Diversity Arts Australia and curated by Lena Nahlous.
This event is part of THIS IS WHO WE ARE, a UK-Australian movement of intergenerational and intersectional women artists, producers and creatives of colour who are transforming sectors, thinking and spaces. With heritages including African and Caribbean, First Nations, West, South and South East Asian origins, they are amplifying their collective power through arts and cultural events, socials, professional development resources and gatherings which champion the values of social justice, creativity and care.
This is a closed gathering for women and girls of colour, First Nations women/girls and/or gender diverse folk, with a focus on hip-hop.
We plan to record this event and replay it afterwards as part of the This is Who We Are online festival and to share some of the conversation on Diversity Arts Australia's Colour Cycle podcast.
More about This is Who We Are here: http://www.renaissanceone.co.uk/this-is-who-we-are
This Salon event is organised by Diversity Arts Australia, as part of the British Council’s UK-Australia Season 2021 - 2022 and is a partnership with UK-based Renaissance One.
This event will be available on demand once you book your ticket.
Bios
Naomi Wenitong is a multi-award winning, Songwriter, Singer, Rapper, Producer, Ambassador,
Television Host and Youth Mentor. Her career in the music industry stems over 25 years, which has enabled her to design her greatest legacy, a youth mentorship project called Naytive Mentorship.
Born in Cairns to a large family belonging to the Kabi Kabi people of South East Queensland, the soundtrack to Nay’s childhood was ever-present and eclectic. At the age of 16, Shakaya was formed. The group was signed to a major multinational record label and had their own original songs: ‘Stop Calling Me’, ‘Sublime’ and ‘Cinderella’ quickly climbing the ARIA charts and selling platinum numbers. Shakaya’s success saw the group release two albums and tour with Destiny’s Child, Usher, Ja Rule, Ashanti and Shaggy as well as perform all backup vocals and raps for Peter Andre on his 2004 UK tour.
After returning from the US, Nay co-founded the trio The Last Kinection (TLK) – the outfit that would allow Nay to focus more heavily on her ability as an MC and her lyrical prowess. TLK won legions of new fans as the main support for The Herd’s sold-out national tour. The last show of that tour changed Nay’s life forever. Driving from Sydney to Newcastle, TLK were involved in a horrific car accident, resulting in injuries so drastic that Nay was presumed dead at the scene. However, with spirit and determination Nay learned how to walk again, recovered and returned to the stage to support Public Enemy, host 2 seasons of the Logie nominated interactive TV show Move it Mobstyle and deliver a TEDx talk ‘It's More than Just Music’
Born in La Paz, Mexico to a Mexican father and Turkish mother, Maya Jupiter grew up in Sydney. Signing to Mother Tongues, an all-female rap label at 20, she released her first solo album in 2003. Maya’s lifelong love of hip-hop led to her breaking through as a TV host/producer at Channel [V] and host/producer of the ABC’s triple j hip-hop show.
Maya is a renowned activist who is now raising a family in Los Angeles. She released her third solo album, produced by Grammy winner Quetzal Flores, in 2018, titled Never Said Yes, named after her song about affirmative consent. Songs like “Crumble” address the school to prison pipeline while “Inshallah” is about the hope Maya experienced while pregnant with her first child.
In 2013, Maya co-founded Artivist Entertainment to support artists creating positive social transformation. She currently sits on the advisory board at Peace Over Violence, where she has been a spokesperson for their Denim Day Campaign since 2014 and was recognised with their Voice Over Violence Humanitarian Award that same year. In 2017, Maya won Tiyya’s Owliya Community Leadership Award and was honoured by the Justice For My Sister Collective. In 2018, she received the East LA Community Corporation’s Mujer Guerrera Award, and in 2020, Maya was the co-recipient of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Social Justice Fighter Award alongside her husband, Aloe Blacc.
MC Trey (Thelma Thomas) has 20+ years experience as a hip-hop/soul artist and community worker, with ARIA, Urban Music, 3D and Jack Music Award nominations. She has also been nominated as one of Sydney’s Top 10 Creative Innovators (Music).
Trey began writing lyrics as a child in Fiji, growing up listening to rap, reggae, island and gospel music. She performs locally and internationally, and is a passionate, credited arts and community advocate utilising music to engage young people. Trey’s creative business Tapastry provides consultancy, arts and youth workshops, events coordination and creative projects, working with Street University, Australian Museum and the NSW Government. She also consults with corporates and non-profits.
Trey has worked in Hip Hop Theatre with Jonzi D (UK) at Carriageworks East London West Sydney, for the Sydney Festival and The Bridge hip-hop play. She has also hosted music shows on Foxtel, Channel V and RED. Joining forces with Maya Jupiter and DJ Nick Toth as Foreign Heights, she earned an ARIA nomination in 2007. True to its name, the album featured Mystro (UK), Eternia (Canada), with production by P-Money (NZ) and Kut Master Kurt (USA). Nowadays, Trey is cultivating her YouTube channel – treymuzik – where she talks music, arts, culture and stories that influence and inspire.
DJ Sarah Love is a veteran club DJ, radio broadcaster, presenter, performer and journalist who has performed in over 30 countries. She’s shared stages with DJ icons like Grandmaster Flash and Jazzy Jeff, and supported artists including Mary J Blige, Wu-Tang Clan and The Roots.
Sarah was headhunted by BBC Radio to present the 1Xtra Friday Night Hip Hop Mix Show and the Weekend Wake-Up Show, receiving global prestige as one of the few female specialists in worldwide broadcasting. MTV Europe appointed Sarah their official — and only — female VJ for the MTV Base Network, broadcasting to over 60 countries worldwide, interviewing stars for MTV: The Lick, NFL Touchdown. She’s hosted the shows Good Look and DJ Takeover, toured as a MTV Sound System DJ and DJed events for MTV Africa. Sarah is the only woman in MOBO Awards history to be nominated Best DJ— twice! — and the first to have a nationally broadcast Hip-Hop show.
Sarah has interviewed the biggest names in rap and has been labelled the UK’s 1st Lady Of Hip Hop. She has lived in Hip-Hop’s Mecca, New York City, earning respect DJing and co-hosting the renowned Squeeze Radio Show on WKCR. She’s toured globally including Australia, where she co-hosted the Triple J Hip Hop show with Maya Jupiter. Currently, Sarah is the resident DJ/curator at London’s respected Alchemy night.
Rioting into 2021 with the explosive hard hitting single ‘Cause a Scene’ landing on the ‘Made in UK’ playlist and her following singles landing placements on: Radio 1, BBC 1xtra and Charlie Sloth’s Apple Music rap show, TrueMendous shortly followed this with the announcement of her long-awaited debut album ‘Misdiagnosis of Chyvonne Johnson’ paying homage to Lauryn Hills ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.’ Curating a prolific and diverse 17 track project dominating multiple genres including: hip hop, neo-soul, pop and jazz while dancing across a wide range of subject matters including: toxic family dynamic, love, self-empowerment, sexuality and unappreciation, she masters a whirlwind of flow patterns and remarkable vocal deliverance techniques while inviting us into her world to witness a extraordinary body of work that until this point has never before been done. Since the album’s release on April 1st 2021, it has since collected over 325,000 streams.
In 2020 the rising star signed to High Focus Records where she released her EP ‘HUH?’ The EP had an exceptional response accumulating over 382,000 streams to date with one of the singles from the project landing on the Adidas ‘COLD.RDY’ campaign and another on the Fifa 21 soundtrack. If this wasn’t enough, TrueMendous managed to bag the lead role in the 2020 Mcvities advert.
She secured a mind blowing 11 festival slots throughout the summer of 2019 including: Glastonbury, Leedsand Readingwhere she opened up the BBC 1xtra stage. TrueMendous was also one of the leading artists on the ‘Queens of Art’ tour which was the first ever UK all female hip hop tour across 8 cities. The tour was later covered by the BBC.