Conscious 2019 Wrap Up by L-FRESH The LIon

By L-FRESH The LION, Director of Conscious

2019 saw the launch of Conscious: an artist development program for Hip Hop artists from Western Sydney. Spearheaded by Campbelltown Arts Centre, the program got behind 5 artists (Jessica Jade, Zeadala, Rebecca Hatch, Mirrah & Nardean) and tailored support to suit their self-identified goals for 2019. As Artistic Director, it was my pleasure to work with this cohort of artists and the Arts Centre to assist in the rollout of the program. It was very fulfilling to see the artists goals come to life.

For the Conscious program, it's important we select artists who not only represent Western Sydney, but also those who understand the power of what that means. Western Sydney is a large area. From top to bottom, it varies in terms of vibe and culture. It's very easy for outsiders to paint it with a single brush stroke and miss out on all the intricacies. 

Conscious is about presenting those intricacies through the artists we select, knowing that the stories they tell through their music and actions represent parts of Western Sydney that are very real and sometimes overlooked.

In 2019, working with Nardean, Mirrah, Zeadala, Rebecca Hatch and Jessica Jade showed us those intricacies in great detail. Each of these artists represent Western Sydney in a different way. Throughout the year, they all created some dope music (that was a given, knowing how talented and hard working each of them are), and they inspired the next generation by giving back through music and mentoring workshops/sessions.

There were many highlights. Nardean created a killer EP, which is set for release in 2020. The first single "Magic" came out in the 2nd half of 2019, and showcases Nardean's magnetic energy and playfulness. 

Jessica Jade also completed a new EP, having articulated the desire to experiment with her sound and push the limits of her abilities, she, through the support of mentor and producer Sergio Selim, created a special body of work that is of international quality. She released the first single "Taste" in the latter half of 2019 and scored FBi Radio's Independent Artist of the Week.

Mirrah, coming off the back of releasing her 2nd EP: Love, approached 2019 with a focus of development, trying to find a way to best express the ideas she had in mind for her 3rd EP: Music. She worked with some new producers and started to piece together demos for that new project. At the same time, she found ways to really inspire young people from the Campbelltown region in her workshop sessions, introducing them to song writing and performing.

Zeadala underwent mentoring sessions with hip hop veteran, Urthboy, who is also the A&R at Elefant Traks, one of Australia's longest running independent record labels (now 21 years old), and finished a new EP in collaboration with producer Munki Munk. The EP is an exciting collection of songs, showcasing the range of Zeadala's abilities as an artist (guitarist, singer, rapper and songwriter). 

And lastly, Rebecca Hatch pieced together a bunch of new demos, one of which, Brown Girl Chronicles, was released in mid-2019, and her latest, 2560 (a love letter to her home city of Campbelltown), having just been released in the early part of 2020. Rebecca was also able to put together a band, with the help of her mentor (now manager), Ricky Simandjuntak (Onefour, i.amSolo) to showcase at BIGSOUND 2019. 

We wrapped the 2019 program with the Conscious Concert at the Campbelltown Arts Centre. It was a night of celebration. A moment for the local community to value and appreciate these 5 dope artists. 

Looking forward to 2020, I'm inspired to see Conscious grow. The cohort will expand with 4 new artists from Western Sydney joining the Conscious collective. And we will build on the relationships we established with music industry powerhouses such as Apple Music, Sounds Australia, APRA-AMCOS, and FBi Radio just to name a few.

Conscious is becoming a vital part of the Western Sydney music landscape and more broadly, the hip hop industry infrastructure for developing artists in Australia. At present, there's no other program quite like it. It's unique to Western Sydney, just as Western Sydney is unique to the rest of the country.