- Hard hitting hip-hop duo A.B. Original consists of rapper Briggs and producer extraordinaire Trials. At this point in his career Trials has produced beats for some of Australia’s finest and despite best being known for his time spent in the lab as a member of the, recently, very quiet Funkoars, isn’t too shabby behind the mic either. Powerhouse emcee Briggs is a dude with two stellar solo LPs to his name and a guy whose range of talents extends to being an emerging actor.  With some real chops too, Briggs flexed his funny bone in ABC’s on point, Black Comedy and exercised his dramatic capacities in the ambitious Clever Man. It's the drama that Briggs and Trials are mainlining here, they sure aren’t joking around on A.B. Original’s debut full-length, Reclaim Australia. An album fittingly charged with anger, agitation and social reflection, it touches on issues of racism, nationalism, police brutality and meth-heads. It’s all in a days work.

Reclaim Australia is bookended by two aboriginal musical visionaries, Archie Roach and Gurrumul; with both tracks serving as a the perfect warm-up and subsequent warm-down to the bombastic musical voice of the collective disenfranchised; an almost passing of the torch moment as differing generations bond over mutual injustice and the lengths one can go to when backed up against a wall. It’s a record that wears its heart firmly on its sleeve and doesn’t waste time mincing words or beating around the bush. In fact you’d be more likely to see Trials pour gasoline on said bush and Briggs subsequently toss in a match there’s so much fire being conjured here.

Reclaim Australia is filled to bursting with this angst and an unrelenting urge to shake up the status quo that reminds me of those character moulding records that a much younger version of myself cut his baby teeth on; kicking against make-believe pricks in all my awkward, white, pubescent shame to the likes of Rage Against The Machine & N.W.A.. There’s no reason A.B. Original shouldn’t inspire as much as it challenges and pushes the envelope. Its a record that could and should have a near electrifying effect, especially on all those white-boy, hip-hop heads like myself that might consider ourselves as modern, multicultural dudes. Even if in reality, we're most likely living in a clueless dreamworld of ignorant bliss.

There's only so far people can bend before they flat out break and Australia's historical and contemporary treatment of its indigenous people is flat out abhorrent; I find myself getting relatively pissed off if a bus drives past me at peak hour, let alone if I actually had to face that level of bigotry and racism. Of course because of the colour of my skin it's flat out unfathomable to me but Reclaim Australia creates a small window for me to gaze through. This is outspoken, compelling and potent music with such powerful themes but balanced masterfully as a straight up, 100% killer hip-hop record. Regardless of the level of fanfare it receives or how well it sells, comfortable listen or not, Briggs and Trials have crafted one of the most interesting, poignant and important Australian records of the year, no question.

Operating as A.B. Original, Briggs and Trials dwarf their individual and already unique skill sets, becoming something all-encompassing and unstoppable. A whirlwind primed and ready to sweep up every backwards, racist cracker that’s serendipitous enough to stumble upon it and willing to really listen. The end result will hopefully force a little, well delivered and long overdue cultural insight to a country that can’t seem to stop treading water on a plethora of significant social issues right in front of our half-open eyes. Reclaim Australia is Briggs and Trials refusing to sit back and accept the metric tonne of bullshit being constantly dumped -consciously or otherwise- on their people. It might be a small victory in the scheme of things, but by god did they knock out a great record in the process.

- Jay Edwards