Conscious songwriter, indigenous activist, Pacific hip-hop artist, Sprigga Mek (Allan Aufamau), recently saw his work reach a global audience when his music video ‘Dodge the Bullet’ featured at the Mother Tongue Film Festival in Washington.
And in the coming month he is also launching his debut album, ‘Kanaka Messenger’.
Aufamau says the zest for his art and activism comes from his life in Papua New Guinea.
“Most of my life was growing up in the city, in the village, so I was educated in traditional arts and culture and knowledge through my grandparents,” says Aufamau. “When I came to the stage where I had an interest in music, I decided to be unique. I incorporated my language and cultures through music. That’s when I began doing contemporary music through rap. Because I can’t sing, but I realised I could rhyme, twist and bend words. I can speak my language fluently. I speak a few languages, obviously English, Pidgin (Tok Pisin), Mekeo, Motu and Aroma, and I incorporate these in my music.”
“I also rap in English, Pidgin, Mekeo, Motu and Aroma languages. That’s just five out of 800 or so languages. I wish I knew all the languages of PNG.”
Dodging the bullet
Political and social developments in PNG provide lots of material for his songs.
“Over the past couple of years, there’s been a lot happening in the country- economically, socially and politically, and the people on the ground – we the simple people – feel the pinch of the decisions they make at the top,” says Aufamau. “It’s just come to the point where people were not highlighting that though music and songs and being the conscious artist that I am, I thought I really have to put something out.
“It was definitely going to raise some eyebrows but it’s the truth so I had to put it out.”
Aufamau says ‘Dodge the Bullet’ was inspired by things like the fact there is no medicine in PNG hospitals and yet the government decided to spend 40 million kina on the APEC meet.
“Dodge the Bullet has been really good to me,” says Aufamau. “When I did the song, I contacted another brother of mine called Nigel Muganawa, he is the one who shot the video. His profile on YouTube is the Digital Story Box. So what I did is, we didn’t write a storyline or script. I said that ‘We just go to the scenes and I leave the full creative control in your hands. Tell me where to stand and shoot.’ So we put it out and that’s the song that won me the Pacific Break competition in 2019, hosted by ABC Australia. I won the competition, I flew over with my band; we played at the WOMAD festival.”
More recently, ‘Dodge the Bullet’ was shown at the Mother Tongue Festival, which celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity and is hosted by the Smithsonian, the largest museum, education and research institution in the world.
How did his latest opportunity come about?
“The panel at the Mother Tongue Film Festival go out and research and look for short films in local indigenous languages,” says Aufamau. “And the people in the panel stumbled upon my video ‘Dodge the Bullet’ because I did the verses in Pidgin and the chorus in English, they could relate to what the video was all about.”
Aufamau flew to Washington DC for the festival. “I didn’t apply, it was just, I’d say, luck or the universe just making it happen.”
Power, corruption and inequality
Aufamau also sings about the importance of maintaining cultural heritage (‘Pasin Kanaka’), and has recorded an ode to his neighbourhood Gerehu (‘Gerehood’).
“So I do a lot of conscious content in my songs. I also have some songs that are about being a typical Melanesian, having fun. Most of the songs are to empower and motivate the youth to stand up and speak up.
“I was lucky enough to record my debut album in Melbourne which I will be launching in March 2023. The album is called the Kanaka Messenger.”
He also works with other musicians, including brothers 3KiiNgZ (Val Saint and Kamako), and hip-hop producer, Rifa Vela on ‘One Sound’; “it’s just about no matter what you’re going through and no matter where you are at, we can all be one, ‘One Sound’. We have one mind to do what we want. We have one mind, one soul, one heart.”
This year, Aufamau has already been to the U.S. and Melbourne (Australia), and will launch ‘Kanaka Messenger’ in Australia.
Pacific reach
“I have good support from radio stations in Vanuatu,” says Aufamau. “I did a show there, the Fest’Napuan festival back in 2016. So some of my music gets played there, they support my stuff. My music gets played in the Solomon Islands as well. Last I heard it gets played on the radio in Fiji as well. I’m not sure if there’s a place where we can get those statistics.
“All my music is available on most of the streaming platforms,” says Aufamau. “So monthly I get reports on where my music is screened or downloaded. I get listeners and good feedback from throughout the Pacific islands as well. Especially the Melanesian islands. I get some love from Polynesia and Micronesia as well.
“I distribute my music through online platforms; I go through an aggregator called DistroKid and I pay an annual fee and they distribute all my songs on all platforms.
“I get quite a good living through music,” says Aufamau. “I have my side hustles apart from music as well. I have a poultry farm back home. I have shares in a distribution company here in Papua New Guinea.
“Being from PNG you can’t really rely on music to keep you going every day. I took it on myself to have other ventures on my side. I do corporate work as well – once a month or twice a month, I get good jobs and that keeps me going. I have especially good shows overseas and that pays for months in advance, for rent and food.”
Aufamau says for the past two years, he has been focussed on completing the album. “Due to COVID, I was only able to finally get back to Australia last year and we finished the last one or two songs.”
He hopes to forge a path for other young musicians.
“The end game is to create pathways for the ones coming after me. So I’ll be the one to step into unknown territory, I’ll be the guinea pig and I’ll step in and see what’s it like, and the ones coming behind me know how to move about.”
