ANTHONY MUNDINE [16.05.07] CHAMPION OF THE WORLD Anthony Mundine: footballer, world champion boxer (two times so far) and rapper. Supreme athlete? That's for sure, but at heart the man is a crusader, a scrapper fighting for the rights of his people. I once spent a fair part of a day with the Champ and found him to be the antithesis of his media profile. Loudmouth he ain't. In fact, he was gracious and courteous to the point of shyness. This was the Anthony Mundine that came down the phone line when he called up Scene to talk about performing at the Stylin' Up festival. I asked him had what got him rapping? "I've just been dabbling in and out of it really, I just thought this would be a great opportunity for me to tell my story through music, I don't want to be no multi-album artist, I just want to tell my story and to get my point across really." Influences? "Tupac Shakur. Definitely Tupac, I love Tupac, coz he represented the struggle of his people and he fought against the injustice of the power structure." Plus of course the man probably had the smoothest flow in the history of hip hop. But there's the rub, the connection between boxing and hip hop is huge. No it's not just because history has shown us that the black man has been best at it, the connect is rhythm. Boxing starts with the feet, they form the base, the foundation from where a boxer can support his power. Like a house, strong walls are nothing without a foundation. Next it's the hips, this is where the power comes from and from where punches are thrown. The power works its way up through the body through the shoulders and finds its release in the thrown fist. Training makes a boxer move his feet, adjust his support base, without having to think about it. It's a similar thing with a rapper, he or she feels the beat, the base of the music without thinking about it, just knows where it is, and throws the words like punches when instinctively they feel the base strong underneath them. Of course a lot of people have boxed, but very few have become World Champion. That requires great talent and stonewall motivation. Anthony 'The Man' Mundine is driven by a higher goal. "I just want to be the best of the best, represent my peoples pride, inspire youth to succeed and to live their dreams, to get some self esteem. Some pride in themselves because in our society the structure is set up to make the indigenous fellas feel inferior. Y'know, I've been in that situation myself, but I haven't let it hurt me in any way and I've always kept my eyes on the prize. I've always had the will to overcome any obstacles that I've faced. I just think that it's pre-destiny bro, I think that everyone is put on here for a reason and I've felt since I was a young boy that I'm going to be a very successful sportsman, both in rugby league and in boxing, and I'm just living my dream. That's why the album is going to be called, 'Dreams', I'm living my dream and I want people to know that they can live theirs. "[People] don't understand that the psychological damage [to Aboriginal culture] is phenomenal. Even in today's society, all you hear is the stereotypes where people think that Aboriginals are alcoholics and druggos, crimmos, just what they want them to be, inferior. You just gotta keep fighting everyday!" Anthony will be performing his new single, 'Platinum Rider' at the Stylin Up Festival with some help from his group, OPC. Though he looks at home in the ring, I ask if he gets nervous on stage. "Nah not really, y'know, I'm not a nervous type of man, I'm just telling my story, I'm pretty comfortable." Luke Robertson Anthony Mundine will perform at the Stylin' Up Festival on Saturday May 26 @CJ Greenfield Sports Complex. Anthony's single 'Platinum Rider' is out now. back to top ^

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