B.L.A.C.K.: an Aboriginal song of hip hop

Australia, 2005

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B.L.A.C.K. is a cipher scribed by independent and Indigenous Hip Hop artist, Wire MC. Through interviews and observation the song is visually and dialectically deconstructed to speak of contemporary issues around Aboriginal blackness, politics and culture.
The filmmaker, with his own roots in Hip Hop, aligns himself with Wire MC and through a rapped narrative adds another layer of complexity to notions of blackness by pulling apart his own identity.
This is a musical documentary that exposes an authentic and empowering B.L.A.C.K. voice existing underneath the hype of “bling-bling” hip hop. This is a film with rhythm, rhyme and reason.

This work contains First peoples content

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Collection

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Credits

director

Grant Saunders

co-producer

Roslyn Baker

producer

Grant Saunders

production company

AFTRS

writer

Grant Saunders

Duration

00:26:04:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

2005

Appears in

Group of items

AFTRS Indigenous student productions collection

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Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

B2000646

Language

English

Audience classification

ACMI classified

Subject categories

Aboriginal Australia

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Attitudes

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Ethnic identity

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Music

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Social conditions

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Youth

Aboriginal Australia → Indigenous peoples

Aboriginal Australia → Songs, Aboriginal Australian

Amateur & Student Films

Amateur & Student Films → Student films - Australia

Crafts & Visual Arts → Aboriginal Australian artists

Documentary

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Aboriginal Australians - Social conditions

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Discrimination

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Hip-hop - Social aspects

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social justice

Music & Performing Arts → Hip-hop

Music & Performing Arts → Songs, Aboriginal Australian

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS [PAL]; Reference - timecoded

Digital Betacam [PAL]; Master

Digital Betacam [PAL]; Sub-master

MPEG-2 Digital File; Memory Grid Pod Full Encode

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/110528--black-an-aboriginal-song-of-hip-hop/ |title=B.L.A.C.K.: an Aboriginal song of hip hop |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=14 January 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}