Indigenous hip hop artist J-MILLA's newest single 'Boomerang' explores the principle of cause and effect as well as the concept of karma.
Incorporating traditional Indigenous instrumentation along with language and Aboriginal slang, the creation of this song is one that J-MILLA counts as one of his favourite projects to date."As soon as I heard the instrumental, I came up with the line, 'What goes around comes around like a boomerang'. This gave me inspiration on writing the rest of the song based on the effect of karma, which leads to the motion of a boomerang when it's thrown.
"What we release into the universe is what we eventually get back. Recording the song was second nature to me, everything went very well from the moment I pressed record."
For 'Boomerang' J-MILLA collaborated with the Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir (CAAWC), whose beautiful voices can be heard performing in language on the track. The language is taken from the song titled 'Mayatja altimani mununi minala', originally written by Tony Campbell of the Mimili Gospel Singers.
For the 'Boomerang' music video, J-MILLA worked with director Tully Hemsley in Darwin to capture the energy of the track in an intimate and personal way; bringing together home video-style footage with spanning shots of J-MILLA and his friends on their home turf.
"This clip has me go back to my roots in Darwin," J-MILLA says. "The scenes are set in locations where I played as a kid, and those guys are my bruthas and cousins that still live there.
"That man at the end with the boomerang; that's my dad. I also wanted to put a modern lens on the cultural elements and I feel I've done that in a fun way."
Here, J-MILLA shares five songs that inspired 'Boomerang'.
1: A$AP Rocky - 'Praise The Lord'
'Boomerang' shares the same bouncy energy as this song, and both tracks have that rap hook coordinating throughout the songs.
2: Andrew Gurruwiwi Band - 'Gatjumak'
The yidaki stabs in this track inspired me to incorporate the yidaki throughout 'Boomerang'.
3: The 046 - 'Keep It Different'
This song has a similar tempo and piano chords with 'Boomerang' giving it that modern piano-trap vibe.
4: Joyner Lucas - 'Str8 Like Dat'
I was inspired by the energy that the drums brought on this particular track, giving that real snappy effect for the rap verses to shine.
5: BARKAA - 'We Up'
This song has such a deadly vibe with an attitude on being yourself and not caring what people think, which 'Boomerang' ended up having that similar vibe.
J-MILLA 2024 Tour Dates
Wed 31 Jul - Clancestry Festival @ QPAQ Concert Hall (Brisbane)Thu 8 Aug - Live Nations' Ones To Watch @ Bustard Town (Darwin)
3-6 Sep - BIGSOUND (Brisbane)
14-18 Oct - SXSW Sydney
