Australian hip-hop group The Herd have just dropped their first new song in twelve years, Soul Of My Soul.
Yesterday, The Herd’s own Urthboy shared a teaser of the track and captioned a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), “What’s this? First song from The Herd in 12 years? Ok Tomorrow? Nice.”
Urthboy also revealed that the song, Soul Of My Soul, features Palestinian artists Sereen, Mo, and Big Rigs. Proceeds from the song will go to Olive Kids, an Australian foundation dedicated to improving the lives of Palestinian children.
Of course, no song teaser is complete without a little video, and The Herd didn’t disappoint. In the teaser, Urthboy raps, “The world is dead inside” and “holocaust is weaponised, and we give Palestine the debt”.
You can watch the teaser video below.
Today, The Herd have dropped the powerful video for Soul Of My Soul.
Acting as an outlet for the horrifying images we see on our screens daily, the new song is inspired by Khaled Nabhan, a grandfather who mourned the death of his granddaughter Reem, who was killed by bombs Israel sent to the Al Nuseirat refugee camp in southern Gaza in November. You can watch Nabhan’s message here.
In a statement, The Herd called out the Australian music industry’s “deafening” silence as more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 7 attack.
They continued: “A sector that prides itself on being at the forefront of progressive movements, recognising the value of representation from different cultures, is strangely silent on a matter that the entire world is grappling with.
“Artistic expression in Australia is under threat, with many anti-genocide creatives experiencing or being threatened with loss of funding and platforms. The absence of Arab voices, let alone Palestinians, in boardrooms and leadership positions may have more than a small part to play in this.”
You can watch the music video for Soul Of My Soul below.
The Herd don’t just come back without a good reason. In 2022, The Herd returned to the Reclink Community Cup for the first time since 2018 and have recently played shows for Vivid LIVE and Brisbane’s Open Season as part of the farewell to pioneering independent record label Elefant Traks.
After 26 years, Elefant Traks announced its closure earlier this year.
Elefant Traks founder Kenny Sabir revealed that the label is saying goodbye with “full-hearted gratitude.”
Sabir, an original member of The Herd, said about the announcement: “It was the dream to create a significant record label 26 years ago, and we chose the most tumultuous period in the history of the music industry to make our mark, but the honours go to Tim, Dale, the ET workers over the years, to constantly adapting to find the edge and make this dream a reality.”
Last year, Urthboy embarked on his final-ever headline tour.
Urthboy will continue to play shows, but due to the prohibitive costs of touring, he needs a break from the grind of headline touring.
The MC also said that he and his team are the ones who put on the tours, from paying for flights and paying the band and crew to handling all the publicity. It’s all become too much, and he doesn’t want to make and play music only to be a routine – Urthboy wants to savour what’s special.
To summarise, Urthboy wrote on Facebook, “Ending something gives more space to truly appreciate it.”
