Party people,

It’s been one month since my last dispatch, and I think I’ll aim to keep with this timetable. Have you missed me? Hope so!

Here’s a list of things I think are worth sharing:

  1. I MADE THE SHORTLIST FOR THE 2021 RICHELL PRIZE FOR EMERGING WRITERS! Hip-Hop, we keep doin’ it big on an international scale, man. The Prize is announced on November 4.
  2. While I’m on the subject of myself (let me get that out the way, ha!) I was so honoured to be profiled by Australian rapper L-FRESH The Lion for Rolling Stone Australia and Diversity Arts Australia. He did such an incredible job, I hope you enjoy the read.
  3. Now, onto the news that caught my eye this past month! “Toxic workplaces, be they in the office, boardroom, on stage or behind, have no future in Australian music.” Slowly but surely, time’s up for predatory behaviour in the music industry.
  4. I’ve previously mentioned how much I enjoy MasterClass. I’ve just started Nas’s new program on The Art of Hip-Hop Storytelling. In one moment, he recalls the first-ever rap he wrote. In my memoir’s first chapter (the book up for the Richell Prize) I detail my own attempt to write my first rap. Needless to say: I would have let Nas down, ha!
  5. I’m definitely looking at signing up for the Music Tectonics Conference. Technology in music is changing so rapidly, but as a freelance consultant for First Nations and culturally diverse artists and creatives, it’s important I get my head around opportunities on platforms from Spotify to Twitch to Reddit.
  6. If you’re based in New South Wales and run a small business, this looks like a good TAFE workshop (Wed, Oct 27) on how to understand which deductions you can claim and when you can claim them, along with what records you need to keep.
  7. From the virtues of vanlife to the quiet of their every day, these photographers will feed your travel fires as the pandemic curbs our lives.
  8. I’m only learning of artist Kayla Mahaffey‘s work but my goodness: such bright and beautiful JOY. Adding this to my list of WANTS!
  9. So happy for my friends at Frontier Touring because finally, it looks like international tours are headed back Down Under. See: the excitement surrounding their Billie Eilish shows.
  10. Edited by West Sydney powerhouse Winnie Dunn, Straight Up Islander is a collection of writers from Oceania.

Thanks for reading.

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