Hailing from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, the hip hop group made its international debut in front of huge crowds at the 2023 Primavera Sound in June, sharing the stage with the likes of Blur, Kendrick Lamar and Rosalia.

DEM MOB was formed by Elisha Umuhuri and Jontae Lawrie, initially as a vehicle to encourage Jontae, the group's youngest member, to stay at school and to provide him with support and stability after a devastating family loss.

What followed was a personalised learning program that spanned the entire curriculum of Jontae's final two years of schooling, that used rap as an educational tool.

The pair's music teacher, now DEM MOB DJ, Matt Gully, later joined the group.

In 2020, the trio were invited to perform at WOMADelaide for the first time, and from there went on to score two South Australian Music Award nominations in 2020 and 2021.

It was at WOMAdelaide that the group caught the attention of Elena Barreras, Director of Primavera Pro, Primavera Sound's music conference. Ms Barreras had been invited to Adelaide during its festival season by UNESCO Adelaide City of Music.

Impressed, she invited DEM MOB to speak and perform at Primavera Pro in Spain earlier this year.

Primavera Pro is the sister music conference to the Primavera Sound festival which hosts 3500 industry professionals, managers, producers, artists, and tour and festival bookers from around the world.

“Primavera was a real inspiration and awesome to see something we created in a classroom in the APY grow and take the fellas and Pitjantjatjara to the world," Mr Gully said.

DEM MOB received support for its showcase at Primavera from Arts South Australia, the City of Adelaide, the Australia Council for the Arts and the Elder Conservatorium.