DEM MOB Return To Country For 'Frequency'

South Aussie hip hop outfit DEM MOB returns with powerful new single, 'Frequency'.

Returning to their roots, the group recorded the single on Basso's family homeland, roughly an hour south of Uluru. There was no power on site, so the boys ran the session via a generator in the desert, with Basso's father and uncle joining the trio, folding three generations of family into a single recording.

Escaping the hustle and bustle of city life enabled DEM MOB to reconnect with Country, family and culture, with 'Frequency' described as a generational song about the past, the present and the future.

As revealed in press material, "The song's refrain calls on listeners to open their body, mind, and Kurunpa, the Pitjantjatjara word for soul, framing that openness as essential not just to individual wellbeing but to keeping culture alive across generations."

"For Anangu, culture and knowledge have been passed from generation to generation for tens of thousands of years — young people learning songs, dance, language, Country and ways of living from their elders, before growing to become leaders and elders themselves and passing that same fire on again. ‘Frequency' is about that continuum: respecting the past, understanding our responsibility in the present, and making sure that knowledge is still alive for the future," the group says.

"That responsibility feels especially important now. Anangu culture has survived for thousands of generations without relying on a written tradition, while the outside world has changed life in the APY Lands incredibly quickly. The people living in the present are the link between what came before and what comes next. Culture has to be learnt, lived and practised now if it is going to be there for generations still to come."

The track is accompanied by a music video created in collaboration with the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). The winner of a joint competition between triple j, rage, and NIDA, DEM MOB headed to Sydney for a week where they worked with NIDA students to shoot the song's official music video.

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DEM MOB are one of the most exciting hip hop groups to emerge from the Australian scene in recent years.

Rapping in both English and Pitjantjatjara, the outfit has continually released genre-defying singles and shared stages with the likes of Regurgitator, Seth Sentry and BARKAA, while also having performed at festivals including WOMADelaide, Primavera Sound (Barcelona) and SXSW Sydney.

The award-winning group have scored a whopping 10 South Australian Music Awards in just three years, including Best Hip Hop Act, Best Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Artist, Best Music Educators (twice) and Best Regional Artist three years running.

The group have also been awarded the APRA Emily Burrows Award and the Helpmann Academy’s Elise Ross Prize.

While the wait for their debut album continues, with the amount of new music they are releasing, we've got our fingers crossed that the record is coming soon.

‘Frequency’ is out now. Listen here.