Adam Briggs: "There’s Nothing More Threatening To A Male Than A Black Female"

The hustle is real.

Rapper, writer, actor and record label boss Adam Briggs knows how to get work, be heard, and get paid. In other words, he knows how to hustle.

Ben King / Nick Wray BuzzFeed / Via BuzzFeed

In the first episode of Pretty For An Aboriginal, Briggs, Nakkiah and Miranda give our listeners tips for cutting through the bullshit and getting ahead. But be warned, getting ahead in the screen and music industries in Australia, especially if you’re an Aboriginal woman, can require a thick skin and a safety net.

BRIGGS: ”There’s nothing more threatening to a male, especially a white male, than a black female, especially you guys. You’re smart.”

MIRANDA: “Why is it a threat?”

BRIGGS: “Historically you’re on the bottom rung, you’re not meant to talk up.”

When Briggs joined with fellow rapper Trials to record under the moniker A.B. Original in 2015, after success as a solo artist, he thought it would be a career-ending project.

youtube.com / Via Golden Era Records

“I thought that was our last record, I thought it was too black and I thought it was career suicide,” he told Miranda and Nakkiah.

Their music was political, urgent and unapologetically about black Australia. But they ended up winning, as Briggs says, “a plethora of awards”. Australia is built on the presumption of meritocracy and fairness, and that if you’re talented and work hard you’ll see your name in lights.

Is Briggs the exception or the new rule?

Listen now:

1. Click the embedded link above to stream the show directly from this page.

2. Pretty For An Aboriginal is available in iTunes.

3. Be sure to subscribe, so you never miss a new episode! Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts.

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Credits:

BuzzFeed Series Producer & Editor: Nicola Harvey

Producer & Editor: Cinnamon Nippard (AudioCraft)

Audio Mix: Adam Connolly (Audiocraft)

BuzzFeed Designers: Ben King / Dennis Huynh

BuzzFeed Photographer & Video Producers: Nick Wray & Anna Mendoza

BuzzFeed Director of Audio: Eleanor Kagan

Music credits

A. B. Original

"January 26", 2016

Courtesy Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia and Golden Era Records

A. B. Original

"I C U (feat. Thelma Plum)", 2016

Courtesy Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia and Golden Era Records

Briggs

"Here (feat. Caiti Baker)", 2017

Courtesy of Fox Sports Australia and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia