Heralded as “The New Matriarch Of Australian Rap”, Barkaa is one of the most exciting new voices in hip-hop. The Malyangapa and Barkindji rapper named herself after the river that runs through the land of the Barkindji people, associating the flow of the river with her rap delivery.

Barkaa first made waves with her debut March 2020 track “For My Tiddas”, a single that addressed the oppressed status of black women while paying respect to the matriarchal roots of her culture. Her recognition quickly grew, coinciding with Australia’s 2020 Bla(​c​)k Lives Matter Protests. She first featured on DOBBY’s single “I Can’t Breathe”, relating the Black Lives Matter rising in America within the Australian colonial context. A few weeks later, Barkaa released her own track “OUR Lives Matter”, further specifying the injustices perpetrated against First Nations people by the police. Both of these tracks became unofficial anthems of Australia’s Bla(​c)k Lives Matter movement and were often played at protests.

2020 saw Barkaa win the SMAC Award for Best Video with DOBBY for “I Can’t Breathe”, the SMAC Award for Next Big Thing, and was named ACCLAIM Magazine’s Rookie of the Year.

In October 2020, Barkaa signed to Bad Apples Music. The label is headed by acclaimed rapper Briggs and features exclusively Aboriginal and Torres Strait Artists.

Barkaa’s fierce July 2021 release “King Brown” is the first track off her EP Black Matriarchy, slated for release on December 3rd.