When Shannon Williams got into rapping and breakdancing as a 12 year old, he never dreamed that it would one day become a career.

Now 27, Shannon (aka Brothablack) is in high demand as a hip-hop performer and teacher.
Brothablack is the total package: he can rap, break and beatbox. He’s also a loving father who enjoys motivating young people to be the best they can be.

Shannon turned his mind to rapping after listening to performers like Run DMC, NWA and Public Enemy as a youngster.

Shannon spent three years working as the 3on3’s resident b-boy, overseeing the event's breaking and rapping workshops, encouraging participants to get up and express themselves through rhythm and rhyme.

“It’s important to teach Indigenous young people in regional and remote communities that we have our own rapping and breaking culture,” he says. “That way, we can explode the myth about it just being an American thing. We have the talent and the interest right here.”

Nowadays, Shannon appears at the 3on3 occasionally as a guest MC.

Shannon has also enjoyed a succesful stage career, appearing in several successful Indigenous stage productions including 'Back Home' which also toured Canada in 2007. Noted for his live performances, Brothablack recently rocked the 2008 Big Day Out Festival in Sydney and Brisbane.

In 2005 Shannon released his debut album titled ‘More Than a Feeling’ and is currently back in the lab working on his sophmore release.