Ziggy Ramo

Ziggy Ramo Burrmuruk Fatnowna, known professionally as Ziggy Ramo, is an Australian singer.

Ziggy Ramo
Ziggy Ramo performs at Adelaide Festival 2021
Background information
Birth nameZiggy Ramo Burrmuruk Fatnowna[1]
BornBellingen, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • activist
Years active2016–present

Early life

Ziggy Ramo Burrmuruk Fatnowna was born to an Aboriginal and Solomon Islander father and a mother of Scottish heritage in Bellingen, New South Wales and brought up across Arnhem Land and Perth, Western Australia.[1]

Ramo moved to Perth when he was six years old and began pursuing music in his mid-teens, the social messaging of classic US hip-hop resonating with him. Black On Both Sides by Mos Def was one of his favourite albums growing up.[2] Album Charcoal Lane by Indigenous musician Archie Roach was also an early inspiration.

After graduating from school, he embarked on a Pre-Medicine degree, determined to advocate for Indigenous health, before switching back to music, aiming to represent Indigenous Australian perspectives in rap.[3]

Career

Ziggy Ramo wears a custom variation of the Aboriginal flag while performing at Adelaide Festival 2021

In 2015, Ramo completed his debut album Black Thoughts; an album that incisively addressed colonial dispossession, systemic racism and intergenerational trauma. Yet he worried that non-Indigenous Australia wasn't ready to engage with his truth-telling, so he shelved the album. Instead, in 2016, an EP of the same name was released.[3]

The EP spawns the singles "Black Thoughts"[4] and "Black Face".[5]

Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020, and the subsequent global Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, Fatnowna decided to "rush release" the album saying "It was just still so relevant".[3]

In August 2020, Ramo performed the album live at Sydney Opera House as part of its From Our House to Yours weekly program.[6] In March 2021 Ramo was the headline artist at the Adelaide Festival's hip hop finale concert which featured an all-Indigenous line-up of artists. Other performers included Jimblah, JK-47 and J-Milla.

2021, saw Ramo release single "Little Things" adapted from Paul Kelly‘s 1993 single "From Little Things Big Things Grow". It charted at number 99 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2021.[7]

Also, in 2021, Pantera Press acquired the rights to Ramo's debut non-fiction book, HUMAN.[8][9]

In December 2022, Ramo released "Sugar Coated Lies" featuring Alice Skye from the series Black Snow, in which Ramo made his screen debut.[10] On 26 January 2023, Ramo released his second studio album.[11]

Ramo collaborated with composer Jed Palmer to produce all of the music for the 2023 TV crime drama series created by Lucas Taylor, Black Snow, and also appears in it.[12]

Influences

Ramo lists his musical influences including Lauryn Hill and Yasiin Bey and Aboriginal activists such as Charlie Perkins and Gary Foley.[1][13]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio album released, with release date and label shown
Title Album details
Black Thoughts
  • Released: 5 June 2020[14]
  • Label: Ramo Records
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
Sugar Coated Lies
  • Released: 26 January 2023[11]
  • Label: Ramo Records
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming

Extended plays

List of EPs released, with release date and label shown
Title EP details
Black Thoughts
  • Released: 2016[15]
  • Label: Ziggy
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming

Singles

List of singles and album name shown
Title Year Album
"Black Thoughts" (featuring Stan Grant)[16][4] 2016 Black Thoughts (EP)
"Black Face"[17][5]
"Same Script"[18] 2017
"Ykwd (You Know We're Done)"[19]
"A to Z"[20] 2018
"Empire"[21] 2019 Black Thoughts
"Pretty Boy"[22]
"Tjitji" (featuring Miiesha)[23] 2020 Deadly Hearts: Walking Together
"Little Things" (featuring Paul Kelly)[24] 2021 TBA
"Sugar Coated Lies" (featuring Alice Skye)[10] 2022 Sugar Coated Lies

Awards and nominations

Australian Music Prize

The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. They commenced in 2005.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2020 Black Thoughts Album of the Year Nominated[25]

J Award

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
J Awards of 2020 himself You Done Good Award Nominated [26]
J Awards of 2021 "Little Things" (with Paul Kelly) Australian Video of the Year Nominated [27][28]

National Indigenous Music Awards

The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) recognise excellence, dedication, innovation and outstanding contribution to the Northern Territory music industry.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018[29] "himself" Best New Talent Nominated

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM).[30]

Year Nominee / work Award Result (wins only)
2017 Ziggy Ramo Best Hip Hop Act Won
Best Indigenous Act Won

References

  1. "QandA Ziggy Ramo". ABC. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  2. Tritsiniotis, Parry. "Ziggy Ramo Chats His Forthcoming Album, Human, Evolution In Performance + Deconstructing Traditional Release Cycles". purplesneakers.com.au. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  3. "Ziggy Ramo is the Indigenous rapper who made 2020's most important Australian album – five years ago". NME. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. "Premiere: Ziggy firms as a powerful young Indigenous voice in the video for Black Thoughts". PileRats. April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  5. "Ziggy delivers a fierce message with new single and video clip, Black Face". PileRats. November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  6. "Ziggy Ramo at SOH". Sydney Opera House. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  7. Young, David James (24 January 2022). "Ziggy Ramo speaks on January 26: "It's a reminder of the removal of our human rights"". NME. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  8. Medcalf, Caitlin (29 September 2021). "Ziggy Ramo Has A New Album And Book On The Way Titled 'Human'". Music Feeds. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  9. Young, David James (29 September 2021). "Ziggy Ramo announces new album and accompanying book, 'Human'". NME. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  10. Greta Brereton (22 December 2022). "Ziggy Ramo shares new song 'Sugar Coated Lies' featuring Alice Skye". NME. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  11. Gallagher, Alex (26 January 2023). "Listen to Ziggy Ramo's New Album, 'Sugar Coated Lies'". Music Feeds. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  12. Disalvo, Tom (14 December 2022). "Ziggy Ramo to make screen debut in Stan series 'Black Snow' premiering New Year's Day". NME. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  13. "Ziggy Ramo JJJ Unearthed". ABC Triple J Unearthed. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  14. "Black Thoughts (album)". Apple Music. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  15. "Exclusive: Stream Ziggy's powerful new EP, Black Thoughts". Pilerats. 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  16. "Ziggy Ramo: Black Thoughts ft. Stan Grant (Official Video)". YouTube. April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  17. "Ziggy Ramo: Black Face - prod. JCAL (Official Video)". YouTube. November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  18. "Same Script - single". Apple Music. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  19. "YKWD- single". Apple Music. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  20. "A to Z- single". Apple Music. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  21. "Empire - single". Apple Music. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  22. "Pretty Boy - single". Apple Music. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  23. "Tjitji (featuring Miiesha) – Single by Ziggy Ramo on Apple Music". Apple Music AU. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  24. "Watch Ziggy Ramo rework Paul Kelly's "From Little Things Big Things Grow" atop the Sydney Opera House". NME. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  25. "2020 Australian Music Prize Finalists". Scenestr. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  26. Wilson, Zanda (4 November 2019). "triple j announce J Award nominees & new 'You Done Good' award". The Music Network. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  27. Kelly, Vivienne (1 November 2021). "Triple j reveals J Awards nominees". The Music Network. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  28. "Genesis Owusu leads this year's 2021 J Awards winners". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  29. "2018 National Indigenous Music Award Winners". National Indigenous Music Awards. NIMA. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  30. "2017 WAMAwards Winners". scenestr. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
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