J-Milla performs at Adelaide Festival 2021

J-Milla, often styled J-MILLA, is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the T ...

hip hop musician . He was born as Jacob Nichaloff in

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

Early life and education

J-Milla was born as Jacob Nichaloff, and is of the tak Mak

Marranunggu The Marranunggu are an Aboriginal Australian people and language group, of the Northern Territory. Language Marranunggu is classified as one of the dialects of the Marranji group of the Western Daly languages, together with Menhthe and Emmi. C ...

people of the Litchfield Park area in the

(NT). He spent his childhood in the NT (where he started

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

at the age of 11), but came to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, to attend Scotch College, where he made a lot of friends.

Career

His first single, "My People", was released in 2018. In 2020, J-Milla pledged to donate the earnings from his single "Unlock the System" to the family of Kumanjayi Walker, an Aboriginal man who was killed during an arrest attempt. The song was strongly supported by the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

. In November 2020, he performed at the

TREATY festival The Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, usually referred to as Tandanya, is an art museum located on Grenfell Street in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in promoting Indigenous Australian art, including visual art, music an ...

as part of

NAIDOC Week NAIDOC Week ( ) is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, which was originally National Aborigines Day ...

Tandanya The Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, usually referred to as Tandanya, is an art museum located on Grenfell Street in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in promoting Indigenous Australian art, including visual art, music an ...

in Adelaide, along with

Dem Mob Dem Mob, stylised as DEM MOB, is an Aboriginal hip hop group from the APY lands in northern South Australia, the first to rap in the Pitjantjatjara language. Background Starting out as a duo comprising Jontae Lawrie and Elisha Umuhuri, the young ...

MLRN x RKM Marlon Motlop is an Indigenous Australian former Australian rules footballer who played with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL. His final season was with Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) ...

, and shared the MC duties with actor

Natasha Wanganeen Natasha Wanganeen is an Aboriginal Australian actress. She is known for her starring role in the 2002 feature film ''Rabbit Proof Fence'', aged 15, and numerous television roles. Her debut film as co-writer and co-producer is the 2022 short fil ...

. J-Milla was selected for

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

's online music festival that year. He performed on the closing day of the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

in March 2021, at an event called "Hip Hop Finale", along with

Ziggy Ramo Ziggy Ramo Burrmuruk Fatnowna, known professionally as Ziggy Ramo, is an Australian singer. Early life Ziggy Ramo Burrmuruk Fatnowna was born to an Aboriginal and Solomon Islander father and a mother of Scottish heritage in Bellingen, New So ...

JK-47 Jacob Paulson (born 1997/1998), known professionally as JK-47, is an Indigenous Australian rapper, musician, and activist from Tweed Heads South, New South Wales. His debut album, ''Made for This'', was released independently on 4 Septembe ...

and

Jimblah Jimblah (born James Alberts) is an indigenous Australian hip hop artist from the Larrakia nation who lives in South Australia and tours nationally. He has released two solo albums and an album with his duo Homeward Bound. He is signed to the El ...

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations

National Indigenous Music Awards

The

National Indigenous Music Awards The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA), also known as the NT Indigenous Music Awards from 2004 to 2008, are music awards presented to recognise excellence, innovation and leadership among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians in ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the achievements of Indigenous Australians in music. The award ceremony commenced in 2004. Electric Fields have won one award from four nominations. ! , - , rowspan="1",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

, "Ball and Chain" (with

Xavier Rudd Xavier Rudd (born 29 May 1978) is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. Several of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Indig ...

) , Song of the Year , , , -

References

{{reflist Indigenous Australian musicians Australian male rappers Hip hop activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)