Hip hop crew DEM MOB have returned to Country in the APY Lands for their new single 'Frequency', recorded off-grid at Wali Kutju before the group travelled to Sydney to create its official music video with NIDA students.
The South Australian hip-hop group recorded the track at Wali Kutju, the family homeland of DEM MOB member Basso, about an hour south of Uluru.
After spending much of recent years travelling between Adelaide and the APY Lands, the group drove a recording van into the Lands and powered the session using a generator.
Basso's father and uncle also joined the recording, bringing three generations of the family into the project.
The track centres on the passing of culture and knowledge between generations, including song, dance, language, Country and ways of living.
DEM MOB described 'Frequency' as a generational song about learning from elders, carrying culture in the present and passing knowledge to future generations.
The group said the responsibility to maintain that knowledge remained important as life in the APY Lands continued to change.
"For Anangu, culture and knowledge have been passed from generation to generation for tens of thousands of years — young people learning songs, dance, language, Country and ways of living from their Elders, before growing to become leaders and elders themselves and passing that same fire on again," DEM MOB said.
"'Frequency' is about that continuum: respecting the past, understanding our responsibility in the present, and making sure that knowledge is still alive for the future.
"Culture has to be learnt, lived and practised now if it is going to be there for generations still to come."
The song's recurring refrain calls on listeners to open their body, mind and Kurunpa, the Pitjantjatjara word for soul.
DEM MOB said the idea connects the physical and spiritual worlds while considering the role that connection plays in sustaining culture.
"It is about bringing the spiritual and physical worlds together and recognising that this connection is part of creating sustainability in culture," DEM MOB said.
"In that sense, 'Frequency' is a metaphysical call to arms."
The group said the message was also intended to extend beyond Anangu culture, with the song presenting Kurunpa as something carried by everyone.
They linked the themes of the track to the growth of artificial intelligence and automation, contrasting digital replication with culture carried through people, Country, language, song and ceremony.
The song later took the group from remote Country to Sydney after it was selected through a joint competition run by triple j, rage and the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
DEM MOB spent a week working alongside NIDA students to create the official music video for 'Frequency'.
The project took the song from a generator-powered recording van in the APY Lands to a Sydney soundstage, with DEM MOB describing 'Frequency' as their most significant release to date.
'Frequency' and its music video are available now via YouTube and major streaming platforms.
