Barkaa

Barkaa was born as Chloe Quayle in 1995.^[4] Her mother was one of the Stolen Generations, and she had an uncle who died in police custody.^[5] She lived in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Merrylands as a child. She was known for performing rap at high school, and entered rap competitions in Blacktown.^[4] She is a Malyangapa and Barkindji woman.^[6]

Barkaa takes her name from the Barkindji word for the Darling River,^[5] and says that she feels very honoured to have been given permission to use this name to represent her people.^[7] Her music reflects her experiences with incarceration, child removal and addiction, with much of it overtly political; she has drawn from the words of Shareena Clanton and Rosalie Kunoth-Monks in her songs.^[5]

She first performed in front of an audience in 2019, at a Klub Koori event.^[5]

She released her debut single, "For My Tittas", in March 2020.^[8][9] Her song "Our Lives Matter", released in June 2020,^[10] became the unofficial anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia.^[5] She has collaborated with DOBBY ("I Can't Breathe"^[1]) and Electric Fields, and has performed at the Sydney Opera House,^[7] Enmore Theatre in Sydney and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.^[1]

Her debut album, released on 2 December 2021,^[11] was Blak Matriarchy, so named "in honour of powerful First Nations women who've paved the way for future generations", including her mother.^[8] The song "King Brown", which she says is about a "shitty ex" is on the album.^[5] The album was produced by jayteehazard.^[12] The Blak Matriarchy EP begins with a sample of actress Shareena Clanton.^[12] One of the standout tracks is "Bow Down",^[13][5] which was used in Warwick Thornton's 2021-2022 vampire TV series, Firebite.^[14]

Barkaa performed at the Paartjima festival on the 2022 Easter weekend in Alice Springs.^[7]

In August 2024, Barkaa announced the forthcoming release of her second EP Big Tidda which she described as "a celebration of Blak joy, the importance of Blak love and just feeling yourself."^[15]

As of September 2024^[update], Barkaa is signed to Bad Apples Music,^[16] which was founded by Briggs.^[5]

Barkaa grew up with a single mother.^[12] She was addicted to methamphetamine as a teenager, and spent three periods in juvenile detention, where she gave birth to her third child, a son, c. 2016. She has been sober since, and has her children back. Her daughter Alinta often performs with her.^[5]