09 Oct 2011
Rap talent turns heads
By WENDY ROBINSON
23 March 2011
It's a rap ... Collarenebri Central school students get their message across. |
The words reflect the students' understanding of Aboriginal Australia's history and the need to step up and move forward.
The reputation of Collarenebri Central School's rap group continues to grow.
A new rap song by the group, known as the Colli Crew, has created a huge amount of interest from educators, the general public and professional hip-hop artists after it was uploaded to YouTube earlier this month.
After viewing the rap, titled Come Change the Game, ARIA award-winning hip-hop group the Hilltop Hoods tweeted: "Nice one ... the lads are killing it."
The department's director-general, Michael Coutts-Trotter, wrote to his followers on Twitter and Yammer: "you MUST watch this".
Come Change the Game is the latest effort from the Colli Crew, and adds to a growing body of work that includes other raps You +Me=US, and Closing the Gap.
The rap songs are part of an ongoing hip-hop mentoring program between the Collarenebri Central students and Toby Finlayson from Desert Pea Media.
Collarenebri Central School principal Adrian King said: "The feedback from all over the world lifts the spirits of our students".
"As a community we are very proud of our students who have come up with the words as part of a targeted school initiative to increase student engagement in learning," he said.
"The words reflect the students' understanding of Aboriginal Australia's history and the need to step up and move forward.
"The lyrics come from their learning in Aboriginal studies and from their involvement with the recent re-enactment of the freedom rides."
Mr King said the Colli Crew will be performing at the national NAIDOC Awards and the Indigenous festival, Stylin' Up, in Brisbane in May.