Best of: From Nowra to ARIAs: Music, Culture, and the Path to Blak Excellence Part 2

Best of: From Nowra to ARIAs: Music, Culture, and the Path to Blak Excellence Part 2

From Black Magic Woman with Mundanara Bayles by Mundanara Bayles

February 10, 2026 · 29 min · Season 1 · Episode 164

About this episode

This episode revisits powerful moments from a conversation with Nooky about music, culture, and resilience in the face of adversity.

In this Best Of episode, I revisit some of the most powerful moments from my yarn with Nooky — a conversation that moves between music, culture, grief, and survival. We reflect on the making of his album with 3%, including the collaborations that shaped it and the intention behind centring cultural history and awareness. The iconic album artwork featuring Nicky Winmar stands as a defining moment in the discussion — a symbol of resistance, strength, and truth-telling in the face of racism. Nooky also speaks candidly about his personal journey through grief and addiction, and how community became central to his healing. His commitment to creating space for mob is evident through initiatives like We Are Warriors and his film trilogy centred on the black cockatoo — stories grounded in mentorship, culture, and passing knowledge to the next generation. We also touch on friendship, connection, and shared cultural spaces, including his relationship with The Kid Laroi , highlighting how community and identity continue to shape Indigenous voices in music. This Best Of yarn is a reminder of the power of storytelling — and how resilience, culture, and music can be…

People in this episode

Host: Mundanara Bayles

Guest: Nooky

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: We Are Warriors

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