After a positive 2017 with the launch of their debut EP and a swag of awards, Fremantle outfit POW! Negro attacks the New Year with their first-ever performance at WOMADelaide in Adelaide.
For MC Nelson Mondlane, it’s the beginning of the next phase of the band’s so-far meteoric rise.
“The fact that WOMADelaide want us to come over and be a part of it is so humbling and exciting.”
“Shit man, oh my god,” Nelson laughs, “when I saw the WOMADelaide line-up it just blew my mind.
“Kamasi Washington and Thundercat are probably two of my all-time favourite musicians [who] I never thought we’d get to see or play around, and the fact that WOMADelaide want us to come over and be a part of it is so humbling and exciting.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to play a gig, this is next level.”
POW! Negro released their debut EP, ‘Jasmine & Licorice’, last July to acclaim from fans and critics alike.
Their dynamic stage performances also engaged them as one of the must-see bands of the year, a trend that’s sure to continue if the seemingly ubiquitous positive praise for the band is anything to go by.
In contrast to the powerhouse MC he is onstage spitting rhymes, Nelson speaks modestly and in a way some may suggest as shy.
When speaking of the rousing response ‘Jasmine & Licorice’ mustered, he speaks with a sincere sense of gratitude and disbelief. “[It] was much more positive and more people were listening to the EP than I personally imagined would have,” he says.
“It was a bit of a rush at the end and we were unsure of how people would perceive it… as a first effort, I think it’s taken time to sink in and I think we're all happy with our first project and we’re ready to keep kicking goals and trying to make new stuff.”
POW! Negro offered a slice of the aforementioned new stuff in November when they dropped the single ‘Flesh Off The Bone’.
“The song is about the idea that in society at the moment there is a ‘toxic masculinity’ that’s been festering and encouraged by society in the sense that to be a man, it’s about what you own, not treating other men and women [as] equally as yourself and it’s always about championing aggression and domination,” Nelson explains.
Their performance at WOMADelaide is just the beginning of POW! Negro’s 2018 campaign and foreshadows the release of new music over the next few months as well as more live shows, including the prospect of another east-coast run to support the releases.
“We’ve got another EP coming out hopefully around WOMADelaide, hopefully before or just after the festival,” Nelson says.
“So we’re working on putting out the next single in the next month or two and then mixing and mastering and getting it all finito; hopefully an album after that if this one’s received well.
"I think we’ll probably do a tour around the EP and hopefully come over east again and say hello, which would be lovely.”
