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Explore powerful stories at the intersection of history, culture, and music—from Aboriginal cricket pioneers and war heroes to legendary albums by Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Gurrumul. This blog dives deep into First Nations resilience, iconic protest music, and untold truths that shaped Australia and the world. Engaging, thoughtful, and unapologetically real—where powerful voices from the past meet today's social conversation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this page contains images and names of deceased persons.
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Music
What made these legendary albums great? Read about the music behind the great albums by Black Artists. Hendrix, Gurrumul, James Brown, Yothu Yindi and more.
Ruby Hunter - Thoughts Within (1994)
Ruby Hunter’s Thoughts Within (1994) is one of the quiet masterpieces of Australian music — an album that speaks softly but carries enormous weight. Long overshadowed by the towering presence of her partner Archie Roach, this debut record stands today as a work of profound emotional honesty and cultural importance, a collection of songs that gave voice to stories Australian music had rarely been willing to hear, let alone centre. From the opening moments, Thoughts Within esta
Groote Broadcasting
Dec 20, 20252 min read
Barkaa - The New Matriarch of Australian Rap.
Barkaa — the stage name of Chloe Quayle, a Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from western New South Wales — has become one of the most commanding and necessary voices in Australian music. In just a few short years, she’s transformed from an emerging rapper with raw, uncompromising bars to a national force: a storyteller, a truth-teller, and a cultural firebrand whose voice carries the weight of generations. Her rise has been nothing short of remarkable. Barkaa’s music arrived not a
Groote Broadcasting
Dec 8, 20252 min read
![Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under [1962]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_cd1791d8301e4a9cbd39bfdeef272ad1~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1331,h_1000,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_cd1791d8301e4a9cbd39bfdeef272ad1~mv2.png)
![Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under [1962]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_cd1791d8301e4a9cbd39bfdeef272ad1~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1350,h_1014,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_cd1791d8301e4a9cbd39bfdeef272ad1~mv2.png)
Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under [1962]
Georgia Lee — born Ramer Lyra “Dulcie” Pitt in Cairns in 1921 — occupies a singular place in Australian music history: a trailblazer whose artistry broke barriers long before the industry was ready to acknowledge them. A proud woman of Torres Strait Islander, Jamaican and Scottish heritage, Lee grew up in a musical family and began her career in the dance halls, clubs, and hotel circuits of North Queensland, singing jazz and blues with a voice that could shift from velvety wa
Groote Broadcasting
Dec 6, 20252 min read
Eric B. & Rakim: Paid in Full (1987)
When Eric B. & Rakim dropped Paid in Full in 1987, hip-hop wasn’t ready — but it evolved quickly to catch up. This wasn’t just another rap record; it was a seismic shift in rhythm, rhyme, and attitude. If early hip-hop was the spark, Paid in Full was the moment the flame turned into a laser beam: precise, controlled, and pointed straight into the future. Rakim arrived like he’d been beamed in from another timeline. Up to that point, MCs largely operated within a high-energy,
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 29, 20252 min read
Prince: Sign O’ the Times (1987)
Prince’s Sign o’ the Times (1987) is a sprawling, fearless, genre-melting double LP from a man at the height of his creative power, it remains one of the most electrifying documents of musical imagination ever pressed to vinyl. If Purple Rain made Prince a superstar, Sign o’ the Times is the proof that he never needed the spotlight to shine — he generated his own light. The album bursts open with the title track, a stark, drum-machine-driven bulletin from a world teetering on
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 22, 20252 min read
![Bob Marley and the Wailers: Exodus [1977].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_dde93db938a44371847aea7a44bc65ce~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1331,h_1000,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_dde93db938a44371847aea7a44bc65ce~mv2.png)
![Bob Marley and the Wailers: Exodus [1977].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_dde93db938a44371847aea7a44bc65ce~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1620,h_1217,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_dde93db938a44371847aea7a44bc65ce~mv2.png)
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Exodus [1977].
When Bob Marley and the Wailers released Exodus in 1977, it wasn’t just another reggae record — it was a statement of survival, faith, and spiritual fire from a man who had stared down death and come out singing. Written and recorded in exile after Marley was shot during political turmoil in Jamaica, Exodus stands as both a personal rebirth and a cultural beacon — an album that turned pain into prophecy, and reggae into a global force. From the first pulse of the title track,
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 15, 20252 min read
![Electric Fields: Inma [2023]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_73b7ddda6b5d468a99b4a261ab8dfa78~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_73b7ddda6b5d468a99b4a261ab8dfa78~mv2.png)
![Electric Fields: Inma [2023]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_73b7ddda6b5d468a99b4a261ab8dfa78~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_73b7ddda6b5d468a99b4a261ab8dfa78~mv2.png)
Electric Fields: Inma [2023]
When Electric Fields released Inma in 2023, it felt like a cultural and sonic lightning strike — a record that shimmered with futurism while remaining grounded in the oldest living cultures on Earth. The duo — Zaachariaha Fielding, a proud Anangu man from Mimili in the APY Lands, and producer Michael Ross, a classically trained electronic alchemist — have long defied easy categorisation. But with Inma, they distilled their vision perfectly: a radiant fusion of traditional son
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 8, 20252 min read
![Thelma Plum: Better In Blak [2019].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png)
![Thelma Plum: Better In Blak [2019].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png)
Thelma Plum: Better In Blak [2019].
When 'Better in Blak' was released in 2019, it felt less like a debut album and more like a declaration — a bold, unflinching statement from an artist who had already found her voice and was ready to use it. Thelma Plum, a proud Gamilaraay woman from Brisbane, delivered one of the most powerful and emotionally honest records in recent Australian music history — a work that seamlessly threads together vulnerability, defiance, and self-discovery, all wrapped in shimmering pop p
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 1, 20252 min read
![Emma Donovan: Dawn [2014].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_940,h_706,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png)
![Emma Donovan: Dawn [2014].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_940,h_706,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png)
Emma Donovan: Dawn [2014].
Emma Donovan’s debut solo album Dawn (2014) is aptly named — it feels like first light breaking over a long, shadowed landscape. After years of lending her extraordinary voice to projects like The Black Arm Band and The Putbacks, Dawn marked Donovan’s arrival as a solo artist with something to say and the power to make you feel it. What she delivered was a soul record steeped in truth — personal, political, and deeply human. Right from the opening track, “Black Woman,” Donova
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 25, 20252 min read
![Yilila: Manila Manila [2005]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png)
![Yilila: Manila Manila [2005]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png)
Yilila: Manila Manila [2005]
When Yilila Band released Manilamanila in 2005, it felt like someone had plugged Arnhem Land straight into an amplifier. The album is a riotous, joyful collision of tradition and innovation — a vivid testament to how Indigenous music can evolve without losing sight of its roots. It’s funky, fierce, and defiantly original, the kind of record that rewires your expectations of what “Australian rock” can sound like. Yilila hail from Numbulwar, a remote community on the Gulf of Ca
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 18, 20252 min read
![Nas: Illmatic [1994].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png)
![Nas: Illmatic [1994].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png)
Nas: Illmatic [1994].
When Illmatic dropped in April 1994, it was more than just the debut of a young rapper from Queensbridge — it was a seismic moment that...
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 11, 20252 min read
Joe Geia: Yil Lull (1988)
Joe Geia’s Yil Lull (1988) is one of those rare albums that feels both deeply personal and profoundly national. At a time when Aboriginal...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 27, 20252 min read
![Are You Experienced [1967]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png)
![Are You Experienced [1967]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_811,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png)
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced [1967]
When 'Are You Experienced' landed in 1967, it didn’t so much enter the rock canon as blow a hole straight through it. Jimi Hendrix’s...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 20, 20252 min read
Frank Yamma’s Tjukurpa: The Story (2020)
Frank Yamma’s Tjukurpa: The Story (2020) is not just an album — it feels like an oral history set to music, a living document that...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 13, 20252 min read
Shellie Morris – Ngambala Wiji Li-Wunungu: The Song People’s Session (2013).
Some albums document culture. Others embody it. Shellie Morris’s Ngambala Wiji Li-Wunungu: The Song People’s Session does both with...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 6, 20252 min read
Curtis Mayfield – Superfly (1972)
When Superfly hit the streets in 1972, it didn’t just soundtrack a film—it rewrote the rules for what a soundtrack could be. Curtis...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 30, 20252 min read
Dan Sultan – Get Out While You Can (2009)
Some albums announce a new talent. 'Get Out While You Can' didn’t just announce Dan Sultan—it kicked the door off its hinges and left the...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 23, 20252 min read
Coloured Stone – Koonibba Rock (1985).
When Koonibba Rock landed in 1985, it didn’t just introduce Coloured Stone to the world—it carved out a new, unapologetically Aboriginal...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 20, 20252 min read
Kev Carmody – Pillars of Society (1988).
Kev Carmody didn’t just arrive with Pillars of Society—he kicked down the saloon doors of Australian music and threw a hard glare at the...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 11, 20252 min read
![Emily Wurramara – Nara [2024]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_d3da7897ae064201ad36ce2b46dac152~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_768,h_577,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_d3da7897ae064201ad36ce2b46dac152~mv2.jpg)
![Emily Wurramara – Nara [2024]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_d3da7897ae064201ad36ce2b46dac152~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_768,h_577,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_d3da7897ae064201ad36ce2b46dac152~mv2.jpg)
Emily Wurramara – Nara [2024]
“Nara”, named for the Anindilyakwa word meaning “nothing,” stands as Emily Wurramara’s cinematic second studio album—one forged from...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 2, 20252 min read
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