DRMNGNOW 's new track 'Never Defeated' reminds us we are just that
by Alethea Beetson
If you are like me (Indigenous and working against oppressive colonial structures) then DRMNGNOW’s latest track ‘Never Defeated’ is exactly what you need to remind you that you are just that. No matter how much this system tries to erase us, we are still here, and always will be.
(If you are non-Indigenous and also have little to no experience with the ways the colonial project excludes certain groups of people over others, then ‘Never Defeated’ urges you to reflect on the ways the Black Lives Matter movement in Turtle Island (USA) is the same system killing black lives in so-called Australia).
The ‘Never Defeated’ lyric video matches the tracks absolute fire, entwining Black Lives Matter protest footage with decolonial and Indigenised visual cues. This imagery backs up the song’s vigilant call to action to both recognise and continue to resist against the issues of Coloniality. DRMNGNOW raises the issues of police brutality to child removal to land desecration as a way to show the truth of colonialism with the ‘curtain pulled back’.
Sonically, ‘Never Defeated’ is a slight departure from recent trappier production values, and I could really feel an even deeper grounded-through-country connection to the track through DRMNGNOW’s vocal rhythmical flows as brother continues to honour Ancestors past and future.
For “Never Defeated’ DRMNGNOW collaboration with local producer Dizz1 whose credits include working with Aloe Blacc, Roots Manuva Blu, Georgia Ann Muldrow. And the result is even more dynamic flows centred around the scintillating drums of Dizz1, and urgent synth + bass lines that remind you that we really do have 1000s of ancestors standing beside us as we take on colonial systems that really don’t stand a chance in the face of all our collective strength.
So to all the mob who may need an extra fill of resistance during these (more than usual) trying times, crank up the volume on ‘Never Defeated’ and:
“Put that fist up,
For every ancestor and child”