A.GIRL has been taking Australia’s R&B and hip-hop scene by storm. At the age of 23, the singer, songwriter and rapper has already snagged an FBi SMAC Award for Next Big Thing, performed at 2019’s Listen Out festival, given an acclaimed performance on triple j’s Bars of Steel, and most recently, established herself as the face of New Balance at JD Sports.
Born and bred in Western Sydney and of Māori descent, A.GIRL started out in music when she was just 10-years-old. Thanks to her mum, A.GIRL became the lead singer of her family’s reggae band, One Love. After performing at clubs, pubs and festivals with her uncles, she decided to retire from reggae and tap into pop. Eventually, she found her way to R&B and hip-hop when she was 16-years-old.
These days, A.GIRL has a slew of hit songs in her discography, including her debut single “2142,” “The Block,” and “Do It Again.” In conversation with Complex AU, A.GIRL speaks on the origins of her love for rap, how she thinks the country’s R&B and hip-hop scene has grown over the years, and what she has planned for the rest of the year.
For those who aren’t familiar with your work, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you broke into the music industry?
I was born and raised in Granville, but I’m Māori, so I’m from New Zealand. I’ve been back and forth [between both countries] enough over the years to have culture, know about my background, my people, and where I’m from. I absolutely love that, but I definitely feel more Aussie than Māori.
I got into the music industry through my mum. I was really passionate about music at a young age. I came home from school one day and just vented to my mum about how I wanted to be a singer and wanted to do music. My mum just did the next best thing and got all of my uncles and anybody she knew together that could play, sing and write music. She basically formed a reggae band for me. I became the lead singer of that reggae band at 10-years-old, and by 11, I was gigging all over Sydney. It was mad just experiencing live music at a really young age, which is why I love performing live now because it’s been in my blood since young. I moved on from that and my mum was very supportive, my whole family in fact. I slowly got into songwriting and making my own music after that.
