Australia’s female First Nations rappers turn pain into power

Miss Kaninna: ‘Indigenous people have found a way to weaponise their voice.’ Photograph: Tristan Stefan Edouard

When the Indigenous hip-hop artist Charmaine Jasmine Armstrong – also known as Dizzy Doolan – started spitting rhymes 22 years ago she was one of a handful of women in Australia’s rap scene.

There was no one to teach her how to put songs together, promote herself, apply for grants or even upload music. In the early 2000s the Australian scene was dominated by white men – groups like the Hilltop Hoods.