First Nations musician Bousta hopes to catch big break at MusicSA program

Australia Broadcast Center

5 days ago

Myles Turner is ready to announce himself on the Australian music scene.
Known as Bousta, the 27-year-old Indigenous hip hop artist has won a coveted spot on South Australia's annual Scouted showcase.
"There's gonna be a lot of agents, a lot of label people there, managers you know, so I'm gonna have to bring it to show that I'm not here to play, I love having fun up there, but I take music pretty seriously," he said.
It's been a long journey to the Scouted stage for Turner.
He moved from Alice Springs to Adelaide for school from Year 8, spent some time in university, as well as five years working in various jobs including construction and pizza delivery.
Last year, the proud Arrernte man went back to university to study sound engineering, and to step up his music career.
Music has been his passion since his older brother handed him a guitar when he was seven.
While he has been compared to the likes of American rapper Tupac, Bousta sees himself as different to others in the genre.
"When you hear rap and hip hop you hear about the fellas whose doing it and they're like a bit tough you know," he said.
"I kind of go for like a different approach, I go up there and I show them it's fun, I'm having fun, I'm doing what I love, you know, and I'm hoping that you can catch my vibe."
Turner's mind often turns to the struggles his home city of Alice Springs is going through and how he can help.
"What I'm doing on the stage is showing everybody that there's a lot of good that can come out of Alice Springs if you look closely instead of like focusing on the bad," he said.
"My big goal is to like help the kids sort of find another way to express themselves and also that outlet to speak about what's going through their mind.
"There's so many things happening in Alice and I feel like the young ones, I feel like they need someone to look up to, someone to take leadership."
Turner's thought-provoking songs are written in both English and Arrernte.
"I keep my language in there, I put language in most of my tracks just so I can keep that strong, I've got two different audiences listening to me,' he said.
"I've got the Arrernte community of Alice Springs, the Aboriginal tribe, that's my mob and then there's the non-Indigenous mob that's listening as well, so I'm hitting like two birds with one stone."
He also helped produce a song in language for patients of Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital, as well as putting traditional nursery rhymes in language too.
The Scouted showcase will put 13 of the state's hottest emerging acts on the stages of three city venues as part of the Australian Independent Record Label's annual Indie-Con conference.
Scouted has a rich history, with the acclaimed Electric Fields performing there before going on to worldwide fame.
The program is a priceless opportunity for the likes of Bousta, who currently has no manager or agent and has a 25-minute set to impress.
"I want to take it as far as I can, I love music to the full, like I'm a proper muso," the artist said.
"I'm all about talking about the struggles, I'm all about talking about generational change and just finding that good within all that bad stuff that's going on."
Scouted will play at Jive, The Grace Emily and Ed Castle on Friday, August 1.