If you need a self-confidence boost, then I’ve got you covered. South Sudanese-born, Melbourne-based POOKIE’s debut track tuesday will pick your spirits right up. It’s confident, cool and complex hip-hop, and it’s set to be the west side of Melbourne’s unofficial new anthem. Shout outs to Sound Doctrine for putting me onto this track.

There’s a lot to take in on first listen with tuesday. POOKIE calls on Baasto for the song’s introductory hook, and she nails it. POOKIE then gets out the flamethrower and starts launching bar after bar that’ll melt your speakers/headphones/earphones. It’s not everyday you hear Footscray name-dropped on a track, but tuesday isn’t your run of the mill rap song.

The art of rap is something that’s debated a lot. Fans say they want the “golden era” of hip-hop back, but the charts don’t reflect it. On Kendrick Lamar’s track Hood Politics he raps, "Critics wanna mention that they miss when hip-hop was rappin’/ Motherfucker if you did then Killer Mike would be platinum,” and it’s hard to disagree. Hip-hop fans love to say one thing, and listen to another.

That’s what makes tuesday so bloody impressive. There’s quite a few rappers out there that can rap their hearts out, but it’s not always listenable. Tuesday proves POOKIE can already rap alongside the best in Australia. However, it doesn’t devolve into a dense listen at any point. The beat is fun, Baasto’s hook is infectious and POOKIE knows how to take the listener along for the ride.

POOKIE uses her music to help channel the dissonance she feels between growing up as a South Sudanese woman in Australia, and the challenges that society constantly throws up. Her music is authentic to her experiences, representing how life would have been in Paan Jieng, while navigating the realities of living in Australia.

Speaking about how the track came to be, POOKIE says, “I produced and wrote this song in the dead of quarantine (when its gloom was evaporating the lies we tell/told ourselves) before sending it to my sis, Baasto.

“She doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to serving flavour. Tuesday is about quality over quantity in your circles. It’s about solitude, the hustle, self- guidance and even offers some advice on how to deal with time wasters.”

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POOKIE’s next step is to release an EP before the end of the year. If tuesday is anything to go by, then it’s going to be an essential listen. Rap/hip-hop in Australia in 2020 is more exciting than ever, and POOKIE has superstar potential.