Ziggy Ramo says City of Joondalup’s apology to audience “offended” by his music is “deeply disappointing”

"What part of me telling my lived experience was so offensive that it warranted an apology?"

Ziggy Ramo has hit out at the City of Joondalup council after it booked the Indigenous rapper and activist for a free outdoor event in Perth, then later shared an apology for the “language used and comments made” by him.

Ramo performed at Mawson Park in the suburb of Hillarys on Saturday (January 14), as part of the free, all-ages Music in the Park series organised by City of Joondalup. On their website, Ramo is referred to an an “Indigenous Australian singer, songwriter and activist” with “powerful and poignant lyricism”.

However, on Monday (January 15), City of Joondalup shared a statement on its Facebook page apologising for those who had a “negative experience” at the public event. “We know that many in the audience were offended by the language used and comments made during one of the performances on the night,” it continued.

Advertisement

“We will review the event and the feedback we have received, and consider it carefully when planning future events. Music in the Park has earned a great reputation over the years as one of the City’s best-loved family-friendly events,” the statement added. “The City strives to offer diverse cultural performances, and we want to make sure that we continue to present respectful acts that our community will appreciate and enjoy.”

Music in the Park – StatementThe City of Joondalup unreservedly apologises to anyone who had a negative experience at…

Posted by City of Joondalup on Saturday, January 14, 2023

Ramo has since criticised the local council, saying they were aware of his lyrics ahead of time, and that he removed coarse language from his songs during the performance. Appearing on ABC Radio Perth this morning (and for a piece by the ABC), Ramo said he initially thought City of Joondalup had “made a conscious decision to give their community this opportunity to think and learn and engage with” the kind of themes present in his material.

“I’m not naive. Even when you remove the curse words, the subject is very explicit. It’s talking about genocide. It’s talking about oppression. It’s talking about violence,” he said. “It’s deeply uncomfortable for people who maybe haven’t grappled with their own privilege, but it’s asking people to grapple with what is our understanding and our experience.”

Ramo went on to say that since the event, he has had “no communication” with the City of Joondalup, and that the public apology was shared without getting in contact with the rapper beforehand. He questioned the apology’s wording – that people were “offended by the language used” – pointing out that there was no swearing in his performance.

“So, what part of me telling my lived experience was so offensive that it warranted an apology?” Ramo told ABC. “If I’m not swearing, but I’m just talking about our history.” He also criticised the latter half of the apology, in which the City of Joondalup said it “strives to offer diverse cultural performances”.

Advertisement

“It just feels quite backhanded,” Ramo said. “It’s like, diverse cultural performances, that means you’re going to have different viewpoints, but you’re saying, ‘We will only strive to offer diverse cultural performances that our community agrees with.’

“If you want me to go up there and look Black but not be Black, how does that work? Me looking and being culturally diverse comes with completely difference experiences than the majority of your community. So if you put me on that stage and you want to celebrate cultural diversity, this is what cultural diversity is.”

Ramo added that the council had “every single one of [his] lyrics typed out in advance”. He also pointed out that the event was free, held in a public park, and that he was described as an activist in promotional materials leading up to the concert.

“It was literally advertised as Ziggy Ramo, singer-songwriter, Indigenous activist, talking about Indigenous issues from the Indigenous perspective. If you got to that performance and you were surprised by what happened, I don’t understand how that’s falling onto me, because it wasn’t like I ambushed anyone.”

Ramo concluded by saying it was “deeply disappointing” that the City of Joondalup had not responded to people’s discomfort by asking them to engage with why they felt uncomfortable.

“We’ve just swept it under the rug and kept the status quo,” Ramo said. “I’m just trying to do what I had hoped that the City of Joondalup would have done, and that was engage in actual meaningful conversation.”

Back in 2020, Ramo performed his song ‘Stand For Something’ on ABC panel program Q+A. During the episode, he revealed that his original song choice had been ‘April 25th’, from his debut album ‘Black Thoughts’.

Ramo said he had been told by the broadcaster that the song was “not appropriate”, and suggested his invitation on the program was “performative”. “Me sitting on this panel ticks off a box for the ABC that is cultural diversity, but if I’m not able to express my perspective, is it performative? Or is it actual cultural diversity?” he said.

Since releasing ‘Black Thoughts’, Ramo has performed tracks from the album live in a range of settings. That included, in 2021, on the Sydney Opera House forecourt as part of an Indigenous-led and culturally diverse music showcase called Barrabuwari. The following month, he performed the song standing atop the Opera House in the video for his song ‘Little Things’, a rework of Paul Kelly‘s ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’.

Earlier this month, Ramo made his television debut on the Stan Original series Black Snow. Last month, he shared a song recorded for the series, ‘Sugar Coated Lies’, featuring Wegaia/Wemba Wemba singer Alice Skye.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories