Rapper at centre of ‘white devil’ school song controversy addresses furore
By Meg Watson
Indigenous rapper Birdz has described comments by NSW premier Chris Minns as “ignorant”, in response to a backlash over one of his songs being played at a Sydney school.
Birdz, real name Nathan Bird, spoke out after criticism of a public primary school’s decision to choose Bagi-La-M Bargan as a bell song for Reconciliation Week.
“This all raises bigger questions around education and what we’re teaching kids in schools about inclusivity and covering Indigenous perspectives,” says Birdz.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The song, told from the perspective of an Indigenous warrior, describes Captain James Cook as “a murderer without licence” and mentions a “desire to kill any white devil [that] wanna test my will”.
A father of one of the school’s pupils made an anonymous complaint on Tuesday to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, which led to senior members of the NSW government making public comments on the decision to play the song.
“Rap songs, in general, [are] probably not the best for NSW schools,” the premier said.
Birdz said Bagi-La-M Bargan has been used inside classrooms for years and he had previously been invited to schools to speak about the context of his music.
“Teachers and schools reach out to me all the time, pretty much since the song came out, wanting to know more about it and the context, or even just saying how much they appreciate it,” he said of the song, which was originally commissioned for an NITV documentary on Cook’s landing.
“Hip hop is the biggest genre in the world right now. You ask any kid, and they’ll tell you that. That’s what they listen to, whether [Minns] likes it or not,” said Birdz, adding banning rap in primary schools was “very archaic”.
“I think [the premier’s statement about rap] is pretty ignorant,” he said.
“But I think this all raises bigger questions around education and what we’re teaching kids in schools about inclusivity and covering Indigenous perspectives.”
Birdz says the song Bagi-La-M Bargan has been used inside classrooms for years.Credit: Chris Hopkins
An Education Department spokesperson clarified that “the minister’s comments were directly and solely in relation to the use of the song as a primary school bell, not about whether the song should be studied as a text”.
When the rapper shared a statement about the controversy on his Instagram, several teachers replied with supportive comments.
“I taught the song to my ATAR English Yr 11 class a couple of years ago as an interpretive text,” one wrote. “We watched the documentary [Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky] as a supporting text and would definitely recommend them together as a unit of work. So powerful … such a stunning and important song.”
Butchulla songman Fred Leone, who sings in language on Bagi-La-M Bargan, said he believed a lot of the context had been lost in the reporting on this recent incident.
Rapper Birdz and Butchulla songman Fred Leone perform at the National Indigenous Music Awards 2022.Credit: Mitch Fresta
Birdz isn’t rapping about his desire to kill “any white devil wanna test my will”, he said. It’s told from the perspective of a warrior facing European invasion.
“I understand why some parents might feel upset about it,” he said. “But if the only thing that’s upsetting them is that they have to have an awkward conversation with their kid about the reality of the foundation of this country, I don’t see that as a bad thing.”
Birdz added: “It’s unfortunate that little things like this get attention, but I think that these moments are also opportunities to learn more and educate others.
“I see it through my son’s experience at school and other young people that I engage with. Young people are so engaged and so up for it. They want to learn more.”
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