Remi (stylised in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) was an

Australian hip hop Australian hip-hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip-hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of musi ...

duo consisting of rapper Remi Kolawole and producer Justin "Sensible J" Smith. Originally a trio, which included producer-engineer Daniel "Dutch" Siwes, the group released four full-length albums as well as two mix-tapes and four

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

s (EPs). Remi's 2014 release ''Raw x Infinity'' garnered critical acclaim, winning the

Australian Music Prize The Australian Music Prize (often shortened to the AMP) is an annual award of $50,000 ($30,000 from 2005 to 2023) given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The award was ...

, while its third album ''Divas & Demons'' (2016)—Remi's first as a duo—was nominated for the 2017

ARIA Award for Best Urban Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Urban Album, was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It was handed out by the Australian Recording In ...

. The act's final album, ''Fried'' (May 2021), coincided with the dissolution of Remi.

History

Remi was formed in Melbourne as a three-piece by Aderemi Matthew "Remi" Kolawole on lead vocals, Daniel James "Dutch" Siwes on co-production and engineering and Justin Scott "Sensible J" Smith on drums and production. Kolawole was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

to a

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

n mother and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n father. He took classical piano lessons while growing up and started rapping on a dare from a friend. Siwes and Smith were neighbours and jammed in various bands in the late 1990s. The pair mentored Kolawole early in his solo career. The trio's first recordings appeared in 2011, "Apollo 13" and "Ape", as free downloads through Kolawole's

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

page. "Ape" was also the lead single from Remi's first album, ''Regular People Shit'', which was self-released via House of Beige in 2012. "Ape" received high rotation on national youth radio station,

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 ...

. Remi's 2013 singles, "Sangria" and "Saggin" from the trio's mix-tape ''F.Y.G. Act 1'', also gained consistent radio airplay, contributing to Remi winning that year's

Triple J Unearthed Triple J Unearthed is an Australian digital radio station and online music discovery platform. It is a sister station of Triple J, owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Unearthed began in 1995 as a regional talent competition open to ...

Artist of the Year award. The trio's second album, ''Raw x Infinity'', was released in June 2014 to critical acclaim. Backed by the singles "Livin" and "Tyson"—the latter a boastful nod to boxer

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

—the release was nominated for Australian Album of the Year in the

J Awards of 2014 The J Award of 2014 is the tenth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division ...

. In March 2015, Remi was awarded the coveted $30,000

for ''Raw x Infinity'', adding to the record's growing list of accolades. Slimming to a duo in 2016, Kolawole and Smith released ''Divas & Demons'', Remi's third album, which peaked in the top 10 of the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. The following year, the record was nominated for the 2017

. The duo's final album, ''Fried'', was released in May 2021 after being postponed for more than a year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

. The pair also announced their split during the week of the album's release.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Mixtapes

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - , rowspan="3",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, ''Raw X Infinity'' , Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Album , , rowspan="3", , - , rowspan="2", themselves , Breakthrough Independent Artist , , - , Carlton Dry Global Music Grant , , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, ''Divas and Demons'' , Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Album , , , -

Australian Music Prize

The

(the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. ! , - , 2014 , ''Raw X Infinity'' , Australian Music Prize , , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

or ARIA Awards) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ! , - ,

, ''Divas & Demons'' , Best Urban Album , , , -

J Awards

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J, and which also extend to sister stations, Triple J Unearthed and Double J. The awar ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's youth-focused radio station

. They commenced in 2005. ! , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, themselves , Unearthed Artist of the Year , , , - ,

, ''Raw X Infinity'' , Australian Album of the Year , , , -

BET Awards

The

BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...

is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the

Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. ! , - ,

, Remi , International Viewers' Choice Award , , , -

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. ! , - , rowspan="2",

, himself , Best Emerging Artist , , rowspan="6", , - , ''Raw x Infinity'' , Best Hip Hop Album , , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, himself , Best Male Artist , , - , rowspan="2",

, himself , Best Male Artist , , - , ''Divas & Demons'' , Best Hip Hop Album , , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, himself , Best Hip Hop Act ,

National Live Music Awards

The

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are annual Australian music awards, established by Heath Media in 2016. They were preceded by the AU Live Music Awards in the previous two years. The awards are given in categories that recognise the best ...

(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. ! , - ,

, Remi , Live Hip Hop Act of the Year , ,

References

{{reflist Living people Year of birth missing (living people)