Meanjin-based Fijian rapper Jesswar announces her new project Tropixx (Inertia Music/ [PIAS] Recordings) is slated for release on March 5. In anticipation of the release, she shares her roaring new anthem  “Medusa”  and its ravenous companion video. “Medusa” is a call to arms for the underdog, the overlooked, and Pasifika women to take what’s owed to them – and do it together. Lined with striking depictions of women and directed by Colin Jeffs & Kevin Bar, the visual doubles down on the song’s challenge of the gender hierarchy and demands retribution from colonizers, capitalists, misogynists, and police alike – “we coming for the paper”. 

“Medusa” comes on the heels of Jesswar’s booming track “Venom” that quickly established her as a force to be reckoned with. Three years in the making and created on Yugambeh/Kombumerri land, the Tropixx EP serves as an introductory body of work lined with Jesswar’s signature no-holds-barred tenacity and master wordplay coupled with an unparalleled magnetism that is set to position her as a major player in the game.

A proud Fijian woman, Jesswar’s ruthless refusal of prescribed definitions is the foundation on which she builds her universe. Deeply inspired by her chosen community and her experiences she uses music as the vessel to tell her story. Her pride reflects on her resilience and resourcefulness and defends the notions of holistic interdependency and kinship. Outside of her music career, Jesswar is a peer support worker and runs music workshops for young people in the outer suburbs of Meanjin. 

“I was pawning all my things to get money to get by. Living that way gave me a different type of drive, a real hunger to never stop and get myself out of the gutter.” She credits the influence of Pasifika excellence and watching women in similar circumstances pull themselves out of a rut, “They worked hard and pushed and became successful, for me to see that was important because I knew it could be in my cards too.” – JESSWAR ON “MEDUSA”