Jimblah (born James Alberts) is an indigenous Australian

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artist from the Larrakia nation who lives in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and tours nationally. He has released two solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and an album with his duo Homeward Bound. He is signed to the

Elefant Traks Elefant Traks was a record label based in Sydney, Australia, founded by Kenny Sabir (p.k.a.Traksewt) in 1998. The label predominantly released Australian hip hop music, and founded its own hip-hop collective, The Herd, as well as managing acts ...

label and has collaborated with many Australian artists including Coda Conduct, Horrorshow,

The Tongue Xannon Shirley, better known by the stage name The Tongue, is an Australian rapper, DJ and high school teacher from Sydney. He released two EPs (''Bad Education'' and "Victorious Remixes"), four albums (''Shock And Awe'', ''Alternative Energy'', ...

and

Urthboy Tim Levinson, better known by the stage name Urthboy, is an Australian hip hop MC and producer from New South Wales. He is widely known for his solo music under the moniker Urthboy, as a founding member of the hip-hop group The Herd, and for c ...

. Jimblah is also an advocate for indigenous music and indigenous rights.

Music career

Jimblah began rapping and writing lyrics at the age of 12. Ten years later, he was awarded the Hilltop Hoods Initiative and began work on his first album. ''Face the Fire'' was released independently in 2011, and was re-released by

the following year after he signed to the label. His second album ''Phoenix'' was released in 2013. Jimblah has appeared as a guest vocalist on many other artists' releases. He has performed covers on

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

's Like a Version including

Matt Corby Matthew John Corby (born ) is an Australian singer-songwriter. He achieved his commercial breakthrough with his fourth EP, ''Into the Flame'' (2011), which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Charts, ARIA Singles Chart, and by April 2012, was certi ...

's "Resolution" and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's "What's Goin' On?" and has been a Triple J Feature Artist of the Week.

Homeward Bound

Jimblah also raps and produces with his partner Goji (Georgia Humphreys) in a project called Homeward Bound. Homeward Bound's first album ''Whatever You Do, Don't Panic'' was released on Elefant Traks in 2019.

Activism

Jimblah often makes strong social and political statements in his lyrics. An example of this is the single Black Life Matters, which features additional vocals from Ellie May and makes references to his great grandmother, Hilda Muir. Muir campaigned for an apology to the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...

, of which she was a survivor, and while the apology was eventually delivered, her parallel campaign for reparations was unsuccessful. Jimblah has expressed his desire to pick up where his great grandmother left off. In 2019, Jimblah started a petition requesting for national broadcaster Triple J to start a First Nations music show. His lobbying led to the formation of the First Sounds: First Nations Collective for Traditional and Contemporary Music. Its members include high-profile artists such as

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced , natively ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a wh ...

Shellie Morris Shellie Morris is an Indigenous Australian singer/songwriter who plays a mix of contemporary folk music and contemporary acoustic ballads. Biography and career Shellie Morris was raised in Sydney and began singing at an early age. She often per ...

Thelma Plum Thelma Amelina Plumbe (born 21 December 1994), known professionally as Thelma Plum, is an Aboriginal Australian ( Gamilaraay) singer, songwriter, guitarist and musician from Delungra, New South Wales. Her debut album, '' Better in Blak'', was ...

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Mojo Juju Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga, known professionally as Mo'Ju and previously as Mojo Juju, is an Australian musician, best known for their 2018 album ''Native Tongue'' and the lead single of the same title. The single won the Best Independent Single ca ...

and

Baker Boy Danzal James Baker (born 10 October 1996), known professionally as Baker Boy, is a Yolngu rapper, dancer, and artist. Baker Boy is known for performing original hip-hop songs incorporating both English language, English and Yolŋu languages, ...

's drummer Benny Clark. Jimblah has spoken out about racism in the Australian music industry and mentors emerging indigenous hip hop artists.

Discography

Studio albums

Awards

Fowler's Live Music Awards

The Fowler's Live Music Awards took place from 2012 to 2014 to "recognise success and achievement over the past 12 months ndcelebrate the great diversity of original live music" in South Australia. Since 2015 they're known as the

South Australian Music Awards The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary m ...

. , - , 2013 , Jimblah , Best Hip Hop Artist , , -

References

{{reflist Indigenous Australian musicians Australian indigenous rights activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)