“We wake up Blak every morning. This is just something we’re accustomed to… people will call it a hobby – this is not a hobby. This is our outlet. This is our gift. This is what we do,” says Woods.
Their advocacy is evident through more than just music. In November, the collective embarked on their debut tour. But shunning a traditional launch along the east coast, 3% chose to support Treaty Day In, which involved performing in prisons across Victoria.
Billed as an acknowledgement of First Nations peoples who voted in the 2023 elections for the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, it also sought to shed light on the racial inequality within Australia’s incarceration system. As of March 2024, more than 15,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were in custody, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This accounts for 35 per cent of prisoners incarcerated.
It’s stark figures like these which inspired the collective to support the initiative. Across five days, the trio performed at five different prisons. Despite not being the traditional route for new artists, it just “felt like the right thing to do” for Nooky.
“It’s hard to describe, but it was special. I would never change that … you could headline any festival [in Australia], it won’t compare to that feeling,” the MC says.
What about the state of the rest of the Australian music industry? The question makes Nooky raise his eyebrows. Woods briefly holds up the middle finger. “In the nicest way possible,” he adds.
3% won song of the year at the National Indigenous Music Awards. Credit: Simon Schluter
While initiatives such as the National Indigenous Music Awards and Treaty Day In are a step in the right direction, Nooky says the industry is failing when it comes to showcasing First Nations talent. He is critical of the lack of Indigenous voices in festival line-ups, on radio and on digital streaming services.
“You’re seeing Blak excellence… [but] I wish the rest of the Australian music industry would get that. There’s a lot of killer artists out there right now smashing it, but I think there needs to be more support and more representation,” he says.
Woods says that the industry is too closed-minded when it comes to introducing new voices and afraid that Indigenous artists will alienate audiences.
“I think we champion the ones that are safe, we shun the ones that make us feel uncomfortable, and we don’t even give the chance to the ones that might absolutely wreck the place,” he says.
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But the collective is out to change this status quo, and the next six months will bring the opportunity to do so. They will tour throughout Australia from August until October, and are playing at a German festival in September. After all that, they’ll be ready to gear up for their sophomore record.
“The next album is gonna be called 3%: Greatest Hits,” laughs Woods. “Back to work. Do it all again.
“We’re hoping that what we do breaks down the door … and makes it even easier for the next generation. We’re just a part of a forever burning fire.”