A.B. Original

A.B. Original is the collaboration between Briggs (Album of the Year recipient at the National Indigenous Music Awards 2015) and Trials, ARIA Award winning producer for Drapht, Illy, Hilltop Hoods, Seth Sentry and The Funkoars among others.
A.B. Original was born when the two artists were invited to perform at triple j’s 40 year celebration, Beat The Drum, in January 2015. They produced a short but powerful set which also included the special performance of ‘The Hunt’, a collaboration with Gurrummul performed earlier on triple j’s live at the wireless.
They write songs in the spirit of N.W.A and West Side Connection, while lyrically bringing attention to issues closer to home. Respectively coming from the Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri tribes, Briggs and Trials are socially conscious outspoken Indigenous artists. They bring a new voice to Australian hip hop as A.B. Original.
Their debut album will be released later this year via Hilltop Hoods’ label Golden Era Records and Bad Apples Music, Australia’s first Indigenous hip hop label.
A.B. Original is an Australian hip hop duo made up of Briggs and Trials. A.B. Original stands for Always Black, Original. Both members are Indigenous Australians; Briggs is a Yorta Yorta man and Trials is Ngarrindjeri.[1]Their music is overtly political and has been described as “angry, polemical, brutally frank and meant to inspire a response, good or bad”.[2]
A.B. Original’s first release was the single “January 26” (featuring Dan Sultan), released in August 2016, which comments on the use of that date for Australia Day.[3] This was followed up by an album entitled Reclaim Australia in November.[1] The provocatively titled[2][4] album features many guests including Thelma Plum, G. Yunupingu and Archie Roach.[4]
Band members[edit]
Briggs
Trials