Photos by @kumehanik / Styling by @jessica_jadehunter / MUA by @tinamattiartistry //
After years of grinding away on the local scene, A.GIRL is finally getting her props…
It’s been long known that the artists coming out of Western Sydney are bursting with talent, the R&B and hip hop scenes out West exploding with innovative new sounds and sonics. It’s become one of the Sydney music scene’s crown jewels, and, like many of her contemporaries, Granville muso A.GIRL is hustling to put the West on the map, and she continues those efforts today with her new single ‘We Them Boyz’ ft. Jaecy.
The new offering sees the singer/rapper muso team up with fellow Western Sydney star Jaecy for her first foray into the ever-popular hip hop sub-genre of drill, minus the usual violent sentiments that characterise the sound. It’s just A.GIRL dipping her toes in the water though, a cheeky flex as to her range as a songwriter and MC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zKscSL3SuE
We caught up with A.GIRL ahead of the release of the new single to chat her entry into the genre, the drill scene as a whole and the talent coming out of Western Sydney. Check it below.
You’ve been in the R&B and hip hop scenes for a little while now, but after listening to ‘We Them Boyz,’ I got the vibe that you’ve really embraced your hip hop roots as of late. Is that accurate?
100%. The reason behind that is because after stepping into so many different studios, I just felt this sense of male dominance everywhere I went. And I was just like “Fuck, I just want to challenge this. I want to embrace it and step to their level.”
And in doing that, it’s definitely made me embrace hip hop a lot more as it’s a more male-dominated scene. I just wanted to step in and be like, “Fuck y’all.”
As we sit here now, how would you characterise yourself as an artist? Are you predominantly a rapper, a singer, or just an overall creative artist?
I think just an overall creative artist. I’ve never liked having to box myself into a specific category. I don’t like seeing other artists do it Either. We’re so limitless with our art, we don’t necessarily have to tell our audience whether we’re this or that.
So yeah, not so much a rapper or a singer, but just whatever happens. I could do opera next week and it could be fucking lit, but I wouldn’t call myself an opera singer. It would just be part of the journey and the art.
Have there been any other moments, aside from stepping into studio spaces and so on, where you’ve had to push back against labels and genre confines?
There have been heaps of times, maybe even too many to count. But I’ve always been this way since I was a kid, hence why I’ve been doing music for so long. Like what ten-year-old decides to take music so seriously to the point where they’re like “I’m going to find management and a record label” and so on
I feel I’ve always tried to push the boundaries, and especially over the past two years with COVID and lockdown, I’ve found myself having to push so many more; both with other people and within myself. Just in terms of having to sort myself out before being creative or even thinking of making a track. There have been so many things that I’ve had to work on and do. It’s been crazy. It’s been a lit journey.
Did you get any particular reactions in pushing back against the grain? And would those reactions motivate or affect you in turn?
As a female, when stepping into those spaces and studios, the reaction is very 50/50. Either they won’t acknowledge you at all or they’re on the side of wanting to make women feel protected and represented when stepping into a studio space, knowing that it’s a male-dominated space.
But when it’s on the side of like, “We don’t see her,” I’m like, “Fuck y’all. Next time, I’m going to be on my shit and you’re going to see me. I’m going to shine. The next time I step into the room, I want you to have to acknowledge me without you even knowing you are or not.” And then the other part is just me being like “Fuck, I feel really nurtured. So thank you for having me here.”
But when I push back, the reaction I get within me is really elevating and it just makes me happy that I’m able to look within myself and set aside time for me as well as music. Sometimes I forget that I’m the business, so I forget to take care of myself. And when I do it, it feels so good because it shows in my music as well. It shows in my live performances. It shows in my being healthy minded in music, life, and everything else.
Now, congrats on ‘We Them Boyz.’ It’s your first venture into drill, which is obviously huge in Australia right now. What drew you to the genre?
I think it was because the push behind drill was peaking in Australia. Obviously I love to listen to it here and there, but I just hated hearing the same violence and story behind it. I like the feeling drill gives me, but I don’t necessarily resonate with the lyrics. I was just like “Let me just do something where it’s like I’m jumping on a drill beat, but it’s a different approach in that it’s not so violent, so anyone from any lifestyle can understand it.”
And so, I was in the studio with Steph, who played me some beats. He gave me the super nice and airy A.GIRL R&B vibes and I was like “Ah, this is cute, but fuck, what else do you have? Just something surprising.” And then he played that one, and within the first 10 seconds, I was like, “Yep, this is it.”
So there was no conscious thought of “I’m going to do drill today” or whatever, but it just happened so naturally. I just thought “this is going to challenge me.” And yeah, the scene was peaking, so I thought “Fuck it. Let me jump on it.”
In drill, you’ll hardly ever see an artist both sing and rap over a track and actually pull both off. Given you’ve been singing and rapping for ages, which one out of the two did you find easier to do on ‘We Them Boyz’?
[laughs] It was definitely the singing part. That part was so easy to just flow into. I was like, “Yeah, this is where I sit comfortably.” Where I challenge myself is the rapping. All the time while rapping I still have that voice in the back of my head that’s saying “You’re not a rapper. You’re a singer.”
But that’s not just my voice. Lots of people have told me things like “You can’t be a rapper because it’s such a male dominated scene. You’re not going to excel in rap. You’re just going to be left in the background.” So there’s still that voice there that tells me I can’t rap. Every time I approach a rap verse or track, it’s challenging in every way because I have to try to get rid of that fucking voice, which is really hard.
But I’m lucky that I have the support of my family, like my sister writes with me and co-wrote this one with me. It’s really cool because she’s young so she can tap into that innocent side of things. So we dialed back the violence a bit and she helped me get the message I wanted across.
And then my brother came in with the ad libs, because all he does is listen to ONEFOUR and just ad libs all day at home. I tried to get on the mic and start ad-libbing but I just sounded whack as hell, but my brother was there because I bring my family everywhere with me, and I was like “Look, just jump on the mic. Do what you do at home when I tell you to shut up and just see if it works.” And it did.
It’s definitely on the harder side of your discography. You hear of rappers having to really push themselves to get into those sorts of mindsets, was that a conscious switch you had to make? Or do you embody that persona already?
It was really hard for me, because the drill music I was listening to at the time was so violent. I’m not necessarily in that lifestyle, but when you grow up out west, you pick up on things like lingo and you just know the deal. Just being around this environment helped me be able to tap into that sort of mindset.
But it was really hard because the first draft I did was full of violent drill stuff. And when i looked back at it I was like “Fuck, I need to tweak this. You’re trying to challenge it, not go with it.” But then it took me a couple of days of just sitting on it to ask myself “How, as a female who is an R&B singer, who raps as well, can you approach this?” So yeah, it was really hard to try and get into that space of being like ‘don’t do the same shit,’ but we got there in the end.
Was the title ‘We Them Boyz’ a part of challenging that aspect of the genre? Or are you more taking the piss out of the whole hyper-masculine nature of drill in general?
Yeah, the title is a bit of a troll to the masculine energy within my field right now. I feel like that word is thrown around so much and it’s like Yo, the girls.”But within my group of girls, we use that lingo too. I just wanted it to be a universal thing rather than a male, female thing. Especially because I know my girls who are a bit more masculine in their energy, but are still feminine in the way they approach situations, use that type of lingo too.
And it all comes down to where you were raised and who you hang around with and what type of lifestyle you have. But yeah, I just wanted it to be a universal thing, coming from A.GIRL for the boys and girls.
The single also has your first ever feature. Why wait until this far into your career for a feature and why was Jaecy the right artist for it?
The reasoning behind it was just like, if the message that I’m trying to spread is ‘We Them Boyz’ and challenging drill, while wanting love and support from males in the same way that they support each other, then I should get a dude on this track who backs that message. One who says “yeah, what A.GIRL is saying, us dudes resonate with it. We’re with her and her message.”
So when trying to figure out who I wanted to approach that with me, it came down to a few people. But I was stuck on Jaecy because I know him personally, and I love him and his energy. I love his music too, so I just thought it was a perfect fit. He’s just an all-around sickcunt.
He brings that energy. And I dont think he’s too violent with the way he says what he says, but he just talks about his life with truth and purpose. He doesnt spread that message of ‘You’ve got to be about it too.” So I sent him the demo, he fucked with it and sent me something back right away. And I was like “This is it.”
I’m super excited that this is my first feature too. I just can’t wait to see the response of how other people take it and whether they fuck with it and stuff. But at the end of the day, I fuck with it heavy.
You’re both obviously from Western Sydney which is blowing up in terms of hip hop and R&B right now. What’s it like living amongst it all?
It’s very overwhelming. I think our audiences sometimes forget that we don’t just sing and rap about this stuff, but we also live it. Like just how overwhelming it is to be in this space twenty-four-fucking-seven and have things going on all the time. Like we literally had a shooting in Granville last night and when you asked me how I was when we started this, I immediately opened with that. Like it’s just crazy.
I’m just trying to convey to my audience who aren’t from the West that “This is is my music, and this is what I write about. And this is what you hear other West Sydney artists write about.” But we live this literally day in and day out. But in saying that, I dont want to make out like our area is Compton or something.
As much as shit goes down in every country, state, or postcode, shit just happens. It’s just about trying to find the balance between telling my story, but not making the West out to be this scary place. Because it’s not, the culture is beautiful, the people are beautiful, the food is beautiful. Everything about being out west makes me feel really happy and grateful. I’ve learned so much living here, but I don’t want it to seem like a super scary place, because it’s not. Shit happens everywhere.
Now that we’re emerging into what’s hopefully a post-COVID world, how do you see the West growing and pushing it even further?
I’ve been saying this for the longest time, but we’re going to fucking take over, honestly. I feel like the white world just needs to see us and recognize us and put us on. And it’s just like, when they do, I feel like they’re just a bit scared that we will take over, even though it’s bound to happen anyway. So why don’t they just jump on board and be a part of the wave? But I just think the West is going to come in like guns loaded, ready to go.
We’ve got our armour, we’ve had the plans and we’ve had our time to sort shit out during COVID. I just feel like everyone in the West is really fucking hungry right now, and they can smell the world opening back up and they’re like, “Yo, no matter what, I’m going to go get mine. And I’m going to put on forth not just myself, but the rest of the team.”
The conversation regarding the table being big enough for everybody to eat at has been spread around enough. So everybody out West isn’t feeling selfish about wanting to go out and do their business. They want to be put on, but they also want to put everybody else on as well, which is what I really love about what COVID has done to us. It’s made us recognize that this table is big enough. All we’ve got to do is just do it.
Lastly, with this track dropping and plunging you into the drill sphere, how do you see your own sound growing from here? Have you found a home in drill, or are you just putting no limits on yourself going forward?
There are no limits. I definitely love drill but I don’t think I’ve found a home in it. I have made a few drill tracks that will probably never see the light of day, but it’s just limitless for me. Right now I’m very into the neo-soul vibes though, so coming out of COVID and going into my next studio session, I’ll definitely be approaching that vibes next, because that’s just what I’m feeling right now.
I’m very mood dependent when it comes to my music. It has to be about what I’m going through. I’m an emotional chick, so I go through some shit. But it could be neo-soul this week or rock the next. It could be any genre, I don’t plan to stick to one or two even.
I just want to keep growing with my sound. I don’t think I’ll ever comfortably say like “this is the A.GIRL sound,” because it could honestly change. I’m forever changing, so my music has to be forever changing.
A.Girl’s new single ‘We Them Boyz’ ft. Jaecy is out now. You can buy/stream it here. Be sure to keep up with her on Instagram to stay up to date on all of her latest projects.
