Reports emerged this week that Aussie radio heavyweight Triple J was in ‘serious talks’ about the possibility of moving the Hottest 100 countdown from Australia Day.
A petition on change.org, which has almost met the required 5,000 signatures, argues that hosting the countdown on Australia Day is disrespectful to the thousands of indigenous Australians that see the date as a day of mourning.
While many consider Australia Day – the day the First Fleet landed on Australian soil in 1788 – as the nation’s birthday, many also refer to it as Invasion Day or Survival Day; the day Australia was ‘invaded’ by European settlers.
The news came just after indigenous hip hop artist Briggs and producer Trials released a new single under the moniker A.B. Original entitled January 26.
Briggs told Music Feeds: “It’d be an obvious salute for us if [Triple J] did move it.
“That’s solidarity right there, for something that would be right … would be the right thing to do. That’s a conversation that we should all be having, with why we are celebrating that day.”
While the Hottest 100 is, for many, as Aussie as a Bunnings snag, it could easily be moved to another public holiday, as many labels don’t release new music to radio around the Christmas/New Year period.
There’s no word yet if the move will happen. You can check out the full petition here and see A.B. Original’s new track (featuring Dan Sultan) below:
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