Ziggy Ramo Essentials

Ziggy Ramo rarely minces his words. His 2016 single “Black Thoughts”—which became the title track of his 2020 debut album—sharply connects the dots between the Black Lives Matter movement and the plight of First Nations people in Australia. Even 2018’s poppier and more romantic “A to Z” rides along with rapid-fire articulation that evokes both conscious hip-hop and neo-soul. Ramo does equally well with pre-existing material, whether he’s adding biting historical context to a new version of Paul Kelly’s classic protest song “Little Things” or enlisting Christine Anu for a dynamic live-in-the-studio take on Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).”