Briggs is an Indigenous Australian rapper, record label owner, comedy writer, actor as well as a political and current affairs commentator who’s been breaking new ground in Hip Hop and beyond Down Under through his uniquely conscious, comedic, intelligent style.
In 2004, Briggs released an album with his hometown Shepparton crew 912 called The Arrival. Off the strength of this and his live performances, he began to gain a reputation as a talented upcoming emcee, and collaborated with Australian artists on Obese Records including Reason, Muph & Plutonic as well as Eloqour, Maundz, The Last Kinection and more.
Briggs’ reputation was building and in 2009 he released the EP Homemade Bombs, which lived up to the lofty expectations he’d created for himself. Off the back of this, Briggs found himself supporting Hilltop Hoods for their Australian and European tours of 2009, and subsequently was signed to Golden Era Records. Throughout his career, Briggs has gone on to support American Hip Hop artists including Jeru Tha Damaja, Ice Cube, KRS-One, Ghostface Killah, Pharoahe Monch and Dilated Peoples.
Briggs’ solo debut album The Blacklist was a testament to his Hip Hop upbringing. Touching on race relations, mistaken identities, life experiences and comedy, The Blacklist cemented Briggs on the national stage as one of Australia’s top rap artists.
His second album Sheplife was named in homage to his hometown Shepparton in rural Victoria, and touched on the many observations, stories and experiences he faced growing up as an Indigenous man in a small country town, and his unique perspective is superbly crafted throughout. The thoughtful aggression of Sheplife was a highlight, as was the collaboration with Ill Bill of Non Phixion/La Coka Nostra, and his conscious storytelling ability painting an insightful picture of his come up.
In 2015 Briggs founded his own record label, Bad Apples Music, which has signed three indigenous Hip Hop artists: Birdz, Nooky and Philly, as well as housing A.B. Original, a joint project with Trials from the Funkoars. While Briggs seeks to inspire young Aboriginal rappers, as “They think their voice doesn’t belong within a predominantly white genre,” he also objectively asserts “it’s not about white rappers or Aboriginal rappers. It’s about good and bad.”
Briggs joined television sketch comedy series Black Comedy as a writer and actor for the second season in 2016. Black Comedy combines a mix of observational and physical sketches, historical sketches and parodies of TV, film and commercials and is a fast paced look at Australian culture through the comedic prism of Indigenous Australians. Currently Briggs is playing the recurring role of Maliyan in the American Sundance TV / Australian ABC television drama series Cleverman, which re-imagines several stories of the Aboriginal Dreaming in a modern, super heroic context, and reflects on racism, asylum seekers and border protection. Its central story revolves around two estranged Indigenous brothers who are forced together to fight for their own survival when one of them is passed the mantle of the “Cleverman.” Creatures from the Dreaming also feature in the series real world dystopian landscape, which has been rating highly in Australia and America, and has recently been renewed for a second season.
In recent times, Briggs has made the transition into political commentary on race relations in Australia, and does so in the same objective and comedic manner that has made him one of Australia’s favorite artists. Whether Briggs is on beat, on screen or in between, he brings a high level of artistic integrity, talent, and combined with his unique background, an interesting and compelling story.
