The sonic activism in DyspOra’s music is clear, “there’s no prize at the end of the Human Race.”
Much more than a hip-hop artist, Adelaide’s Gabriel Erjok Akon, a.k.a DyspOra, is forging a path for his own unique brand of ‘sonic activism’ with powerful statements on what it means to be a minority in Australia today.
“When I succeed I am Australian, but when I fail I am African.”
Gabriel Akon, DyspOra
In a new partnership with Bedroom Suck Records and Melbourne’s Music in Exile label, DyspOra’s new EP release is using music as a platform to stand up and be proud of who you are, hoping that your example will bring strength to others, and hoping that we will finally do the simple thing that we are still yet to learn – treat each other as fellow human beings, with love and with kindness.
“There’s a generation of, I call them, ‘Australiens’. They are the ones that want to be Australian, but they get treated like aliens, so they’re somehow on the fringes. They are the biggest potential this country could ever have because of what they could add to this country. All the nation has to do is invest in them. And the investment is so tiny. The investment is literally just accepting them.
I fight for the refugee’s identity. I will stand with the people who need my voice. Having been a refugee previously, I know just how hard that is and what that journey is like.
We have a very important opportunity right now, with a new generation of kids who are growing up: to either empower them to become the change in their lives and the change this country really needs, or we can go the Donald Trump way and ostracise them and see how ugly this gets.
Trust me, as someone who has been through immeasurable amounts of pain and war, the beautiful path is a lot easier to take, and all we have to do is literally embrace these kids.”
Gabriel Akon, DyspOra
DyspOra’s long-awaited debut EP, ‘Australien’ is available for stream now. A deluxe vinyl edition of DyspOra’s debut EP is available for pre-order now and includes a gatefold jacket, lyric sheet & limited edition pink vinyl. You can grab that one here.
Source: AllAussieHipHop.com