By Showbiz Reporter

ZIMBABWE born Kudzai Chirunga has released a video for his new song ‘4 Deep In The Suburbs’ which explores the mistreatment of blacks, especially the South Sudanese community in Melbourne, Australia where he lives.

Chirunga told the UK-based Guardian newspaper that he felt overwhelmed by the debate about African gangs crisis which took centre stage in Melbourne in the past few weeks, hence the penning of the song.

 “I have a lot of friends who are South Sudanese and they were feeling a lot of pressure….and feeling alienated by the way the media was coming at them, feeling villainised. That was weighing down on me a little bit.”

He said the Sudanese community appeared to be targeted each time the people of Melbourne talked about African gangsters, adding he didn’t understand why certain narratives were placed on him because of his skin colour.

“Most people don’t even know how to properly differentiate between what is a Sudanese person. They just see black.

“I feel a bit more removed because they’re now saying South Sudanese, but we stand with them. It is bringing us [African-Australians] together. I can see the solidarity.”

Chirunga said he had experienced racism before and was called “Nigger” only on his second day of high school and twice had his car searched following a random breath test while he was driving with his African-Australian friends.

Chirunga also spoke of how a policewoman asked if the car was his and went on to check it despite him telling her that the car was his.

“It was so slight, but I saw it. I was like, ‘We’re going to check it anyway,’” Chirunga told the Guardian,

The video begins with Chirunga and his friends – dressed in all black – walking through a pristine housing estate.

“Four deep in the suburbs, as soon as you fall asleep, I’m coming,” he sings over menacing shots of shadowy figures.

The 25-year-old musician said he wanted to show the world the different side to being African.

 “I’m saying, ‘We’re gangsters, we’re gangsters but we’re going shopping for homeless people.

“It’s to force people to see that these images don’t match. What they’re saying and what we’re seeing don’t match, which is what we’re feeling in the African community … It’s not cool.”

Chirunga was born in Zimbabwe and went to Australia with his family when he was 14. He lives in Narre Warren North, which is home to a number of immigrants.