VICE Spotlight: DOSS & Nino Pa ‘Piu

South-Sudanese artists and brothers DOSS & Nino Pa ‘Piu live to tell their stories.

Sharp rhymes and thunderous delivery paint a picture of a life consumed by pain, hardship and hustle. Every word they rap is like a final breath, their words committed to creating some kind of legacy.

All they’ve ever known and had is each other. Now is the time for the rest of the world to find out.

The youngest of eight boys, DOSS, 28 and Nino, 26, spent the first few years of their lives in different refugee camps in Kenya. They lived in Karama, Darwin when they first came to Australia, and now call Perth home.

The sibling duo started making music from a very young age. “It wasn’t something we woke up and decided to do,” they told VICE.

“We’ve been making music [and performing] since 2004,” they said.

“We stopped at around 2009-2010 and got back to it 3 years ago. We were focused on other things, but we’re here now and we deserve the top.”

Together, the brothers were raised on a collection of music now regarded as African “classics”, helping to define and shape the sounds that remind them of family and home.

“Pops and mums were always bumping old school African songs, a lot of Rhumba legends such as Pépé Kallé, Franco Luambo. They sometimes mixed it up with Acholi-Lou, our tribal music.”

DOSS and Nino Pa ‘Piu worship and praise the work ethic of each other, and when I ask them what the best thing is about working with your brother, the answer is simple: “Everything”.

“We grew up favouring each other,” they said. “Our major influence in music is each other.”

Outside of that, they look at artists like Big 50, Lil Wayne, Nas, and Mobb Deep as pivotal figures in the way they work and create.

“Our music is for the hustlers,” they said.

“It’s real-life pain, hunger, struggle, sacrifices, all the above. We get you moving to get your money up. Our whole past is within our music, and there’s so much more on the way.”

The way that DOSS & Nino Pa ‘Piu carry themselves on their latest drop “4 SEDGE CRT FLOW” is reflective of the way they look at all facets of life.

They use their turbulent experiences growing up as fuel for the music. It’s their reason why.

“This song is just us showing out,” they said.

“We grew up rough and rowdy. This track allows us to talk about our past and share just a glimpse of how we grew up in Sedge Court in Darwin.”

Money and fame hold no value to DOSS & Nino Pa ‘Piu.

Hailing from Perth, a place misunderstood, undermined and understudied when it comes to its exciting and emerging music scene, the brothers know that the West Coast is “full of stars” – it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the country reckons with it, too.

“We’re not tryna gain anything from this, music is like therapy to us. We just hope people appreciate what we create,” they said.

“We’re onto bigger and better things, learning and winning all year,”

“It’s our time now.”

Adele is the Junior Writer & Producer for VICE AU/NZ. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter here.

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