EXCLUSIVE: Courtney Barnett: ‘My Kanye Cover Was A Misjudgement’

Melbourne's Courtney Barnett has said that her version of Kanye West's Black Skinhead for triple j's Like A Version was a “misjudgement” after it was attacked by Fairfax today.

The track, which has enjoyed a strong response from audiences, was derided by columnist Clem Bastow yesterday, who said on her blog that the act of “white indie artists” covering rap songs “is one of the most infuriating and embarrassing things I have ever seen” and that she hoped that triple j and Barnett's version of Black Skinhead “gets pilloried online.”

She argued that the version didn't do justice to the gravity of the song's message.

Today Barnett told theMusic.com.au, “I chose this song because I wanted to challenge myself as a musician, that was my only intention. I respect and admire the original song and artist. My misjudgement was tackling the arrangement of this song without considering the wider context of the lyrics.”

In a follow-up piece for Fairfax's Daily Life website, Bastow took a wide look at artists covering songs with specific social commentary, writing, “artists should tread carefully when choosing songs with an autobiographical or political theme to reinterpret if it is miles away from their own experience.”

Barnett changed certain lyrics in her version for triple j, including “Stop all that coon shit” which became “Stop all that Coon cheese.”

Watch the video below: