Tasman Keith has music in his blood.
He's the son of Bowraville legend Wire MC – who himself was the son of another local star, William 'Billy Jack' Jarrett – and spent the better years of his childhood learning the ins and outs of the Australian rap scene.It came as no shock, then, that Tasman's own breakthrough sent shockwaves across the country – within weeks of dropping his debut single, 2017's Nooky-produced 'Might Snap' he was heralded as one of the most exciting new names in Australian hip hop.
Since then, Tasman has released three EPs and a further six standalone singles, racking up a slew of award nominations and wins, including nods at the AIR Awards and NIMAs.
These were essential in building the foundation for Tasman's breathtaking debut album, 'A Colour Undone'.
The writing process began when Keith was on tour with Midnight Oil last year – a whirlwind experience that could've seen him swept up in his own ego, but instead offered a chance to look inward.
"The first thing I asked myself was 'okay, what don't I like about myself as a human being, first and foremost?' And that's a hard thing to do when you're making music and everybody's constantly praising you," Tasman says of the album's origins.
"But I thought, 'I don't like that I distract myself with this, and I don't like the way I treat certain things'.
"What came next was the clarity on dealing with things as they come up, rather than trying to push them to the side. The other thing I asked myself was, 'what do I want to say with this album? What don't I have, and what haven't I said?'"
A proud Gumbaynggirr man, Tasman's culture and community have always been central to his artistic vision. Truer still in 'A Colour Undone', but as he expounds on a wider approach to creative evolution, Tasman says he looked to broaden his embrace of other cultures, too.
On the album, he's "speaking to the people I love and the people that love me, and not [putting] expectations on anything else, or myself, to be what I've always envisioned myself to be".
"I just do what I do because I love to do it," Tasman continues. "The people around me that love and support me the most are people of all colours and all backgrounds.
"I know that as an Indigenous man, my experience with trauma has been quite heavy. But one thing I'm looking to do now is undo all of that and see outside of my community and culture, to help look back inside towards it."
Introspection is a key theme on 'A Colour Undone' Keith says, a large part of which comes courtesy of the time in which it was conceptualised.
"I feel like a lot of the time, we're externally looking for validation or things to change," he explains, "and those things are important as well, but one thing we talked about a lot [in the studio] was well-being – if you want to stand for political issues and go that way, of course, but first and foremost, are you okay within yourself?
"Because I feel like right now, where it's an age of wokeness and it can be the most performative, a lot of people aren't necessarily taking care of themselves, and I think it can come as detrimental if they are constantly doing things for the external and not the internal."
By focusing on what matters most to himself in the present, Keith wound up enlisting a stacked roster of personal friends to feature on 'A Colour Undone'. According to Tasman, every guest spot was essential. "As soon as I had 'Heaven With You', we knew that nobody else [but Jessica Mauboy] could sing that song.
"With Genesis [Owusu, who appears on 'Cheque'], the friendship was already there, and with Thandi Phoenix ['How 2 Leave'], I'd met her twice before then, but I just knew that I needed to see what she could do.
"Phil Fresh ['IDK'] and Kwame ['Not 4 Safety'] are my brothers, so [getting them involved] was easy. I think ultimately, it was just hearing the songs and knowing what we wanted on them."
'A Colour Undone' is released 8 July. Tasman Keith has also been added to the 2022 Splendour In The Grass line-up.
