Jacquie Lomas Spits Some Hard Truths On ‘Yeah Nah’

Jacquie Lomas. Photo supplied.

NSW rapper Jacquie Lomas’ new single, Yeah Nah, is a wake-up call about the realities of hip-hop in Australia. Jacquie’s bars are ferocious, and the track is a celebration of her move to Sydney, as well as what’s gone on over the last 12 months. Jacquie isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and people need to sit up and take notice. There’s a lot of inequality present in the Australian music scene, and Jacquie wants to see change.

The flow Jacquie uses on Yeah Nah is hypnotic, and you’ll find yourself pressing the repeat button time after time. There’s a couple of fairly graphic bars throughout Yeah Nah, but that just makes her point hit even harder. There’s a lot of fakeness in every music scene, and Jacquie isn’t going to put up with it. She’s got her flamethrower out, and she’s aiming it squarely at the insincere.

Speaking about Yeah Nah, Jacquie says, "I moved to Newtown from the Central Coast (originally from Newcastle), about a year ago. More than half my time in Newtown so far has been spent in COVID lockdown/ restrictions, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to release a song to mark my move to Sydney. I also wanted to express some opinions on the apparent male dominance in Australian Hip Hop; which is something female artists of all walks of life have to deal with."

I asked Jacqui about what more can be done to address the gender balance in hip-hop in Australia, and she says an industry-wide shift needs to take place. “The male dominance in hip-hop I suppose is just a reflection of hip-hop in America and even the music industry overall. I work in an office by day and even though where I work is better than most places, the male dominance in the corporate world is pretty evident too. I think it's a matter of people hiring people like them in both cases.

“It's a human thing to do and you've got to work hard to go against those instincts to surround yourself with people the same as you. In corporate world policy seems to be helping to fix these issues, for women, POC and lgbtqia+ people alike. So perhaps the same needs to happen for the music industry, which it is, but maybe more from a grassroots level too, like venues and promoters given more incentive to book artists from minority groups. You need to have people behind the policy that authentically want to facilitate change and not just tick boxes.”

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Check out Yeah Nah below. If you’re looking for a refreshing and outspoken take on Australian music, then you’ve come to the right place. It’s a truly engaging track, and her wordplay helps the track bounce along, with each listen opening your mind up to another nugget of wisdom. You’ll want to be paying attention for this one.