A.B. Original is an Australian hip hop duo made up of Indigenous Australian rappers Briggs and record producer Trials. A.B. Original stands for Always Black, Original. Both members are Indigenous Australians; Briggs is a Yorta Yorta man and Trials is Ngarrindjeri.^[1] Their music is overtly political and has been described as "angry, polemical, brutally frank and meant to inspire a response, good or bad".^[2]

In the early 2000s, Briggs and Trials met at a Funkoars gig at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne.^[3]

In 2015, they were asked to play Triple J's Beat the Drum festival, which led to A.B. Original solidifying as a duo in 2016.^[4] The pair travelled to Los Angeles, the source of their musical childhood inspirations. They worked with DJ Pooh (Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Ice Cube) at Snoop Dogg's in-house studio; DJ Mustard (Big Sean, Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa); and did a stint at Encore Studios, where Dr. Dre made 2001. 1980s Compton rapper King T, appeared on their G-Funk heavy track “The Feast”.^[5]

A.B. Original's single "January 26" (featuring Dan Sultan), released in August 2016, which comments on the use of that date for Australia Day.^[6] This was followed up by an album entitled Reclaim Australia in November.^[1] The provocatively titled^[2][7] album features many guests including Thelma Plum, G. Yunupingu and Archie Roach.^[7] The album's themes addresses Black deaths in custody; “Invasion Day”; racial profiling; life spent weathering systemic racism; and the low life expectancy of Aboriginal Australians.^[5] The group approached the album with the attitude that it would be their only record.^[4] Trials explained in an interview: "Briggs and I were going to do one big career ending, burning the... joint down record and that was it. We figured if we’re going to have one shot."^[8]

At the 2017 AIR independent Music Awards, the duo won five awards; Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year, Best Independent Hip Hop Album, Best Independent Single, Best Independent Artist and Best Independent Album or EP.^[9] At the APRA Music Awards of 2018 the duo won Songwriter of the Year.^[10]

In August 2022, A.B. Original returned with "King Billy Cokebottle" their first new music in four years.^[11] The song's title refers to the stage name of a 1970s comedian, called Louis Beers, who toured Australia with his blackface act.^[12]

In October 2023, A.B. Original released "Yes" in support of the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum.^[13]

• Briggs
• Trials