Wuigada is a dedicated space where First Nations musicians can share and celebrate music made by other First Nations musicians with PBS audiences.
Wuigada was named and developed by the highly acclaimed indigenous singer songwriter, Kutcha Edwards. Wuigada in Mutti Mutti means 'to sing'.
In this edition of Wuigada we hear from a man with a purpose, David Leha, who performs under the name Radical Son. From hip hop roots to soulful social statement Radical Son conjures uncompromising visions of where we’ve come from and what could be, from a troubled past to songs of humility and healing.
While COVID has impacted David’s Radical Son live performances, he told us about an exciting project he has been working on:
'I live and work in Sydney and due to COVID have slowed down on performing. I am releasing a new album with Wantok Musik later this year. The body of work being released is one that I'm quite proud of and the Wantok team have been really amazing to work with.'
We asked David to tell us about a song he had a particular connection to by a First Nations musician, and he chose 'Munjana' by Archie Roach from Archie's multi award winning 1990 debut album, Charcoal Lane.
'It is the song that I remember from when I was a teenager, it really touched me. A song that'll bring a tear to your eyes.'
Recently Archie Roach recorded a beautiful and heartbreaking account of the story behind ‘Munjana’.
Here are David Leha of Radical Son’s top 10-15 songs by First Nations musicians:
Archie Roach - 'Munjana'
Mau Power - 'Koiki'
Radical Son - 'Wiradjuri Woman'
Gurrumul - 'Wiyathul'
Last Kinection - 'I Can'
Local Knowledge - 'Blackfellas'
Buddy Knox - 'A way out of no way'
Jimmy Little - 'The Coloured Lad'
Briggs - 'The Children Came Back'
Shellie Morris - 'Swept Away'
Listen to the Wuigada playlist in full via YouTube now.
Visit all the Wuigada stories, or check out: Black Rock Band, Allara, Emma Donovan, Marlene Cummins, Benny Walker, Stiff Gins, Ripple Effect Band, Waveney Yasso, Sue Ray, Troy Jungaji Brady, Dave Arden, Shellie Morris, Deline Briscoe, LJ Hill, Selwyn Burns, Roger Knox and Kutcha Edwards.
Artwork by Dixon Patten.
