It has been a groundbreaking year for First Nations musicians and the 2024 ARIA awards are recognising that.
Blakfullas weren't just nominated, but dominated the ARIAs.
Held on Gadigal Country, this year’s awards featured 22 nominations across various categories and an undeniable example of Blak excellence with wins for 3%, Emily Wurramara and Troy Casser-Daley up against international household names like Angus & Julia Stone.
Hip Hop group 3% made up of Nooky, Dallas Woods and Angus Field delivered an outstanding performance to top off their four nominations and won Best Hip Hop/Rap Release as well as Best Cover Art for their album Kill the Dead.
"We made this album at a time when people said our people shouldn't have a voice ... Well, it looks like they f***ing heard it," Nooky said.
Language holders and ARIA Music Teacher Award winner Nathaniel Miller are the underlying influences and gentle, guiding hands that are currently shaping our next generation of Mauboy-Level Blak Icons.
Another big winner was Best Soundtrack for Faraway Downs, the Baz Luhrmann project.
First Nations artists like Jess Mauboy, Miiesha, Budjerah and King Stingray all had tracks on the album, while Electric Fields make up a significant part of the soundtrack with six individual tracks.
Troy Cassar-Daley won Best Country Album for Between The Fires, an album that was largely shaped by his grief after losing his mother.
"I got back to playing a few shows just to get myself through the grief all the while thinking mum would not want me to stop playing music.
"She absolutely loved what I did for a living, she’d seen that whole dream unfold. The last thing she would want me to do was to stop," he said.
Rapper Dobby won for his album Warangu; River Story.
"When one rise we all rise... I'm here to see us break these walls and break these chains and move on up," he said.
Blak icon Emily Wurramara won Best Adult Contemporary Album for NARA which means nothing in Anindilyakwa language.
"This album hones on who I am as an artist and who I am as a woman," she said.
And lastly, for best use of an Australian recording in an advertisement, JK-47 won for his collaboration with the Cancer Council on his song End the Trend.
