This year’s J Award winners have been announced, with five Australian artists acknowledged by the national youth broadcaster for their music and impact in their communities.
The J Awards have long been an important calendar mark for triple j and their listeners, and in recent years have seen the likes of Tame Impala, Hilltop Hoods, Matt Corby, A.B. Original, Tones And I, and more win trophies. This year the awards were announced on air, with winners of the five categories rolled out throughout the day.
Gang Of Youths – ‘in the wake of your leave’
London-based Sydneysiders Gang Of Youths won the Australian Album of the Year J Award for their acclaimed third LP, angel in realtime. It’s the third time the band has been nominated, with their previous albums – Magnolia and Go Farther In Lightness – thrown into the mix in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
Double J crowned Australian icons Midnight Oil as their Artist of the Year, another triumph for the group as they wrap up the cycle of their evocative 2022 album, Resist.
Adelaide’s Elsy Wameyo got the gong for 2022 Unearthed Artist of the Year. It’s been a huge year for the artist, whose debut EP project Nilotic has seen her perform at Splendour in the Grass and tour nationally with the Hilltop Hoods.
Korean-Australian rap group 1300 won the triple j and rage Australian Music Video of the Year for their song ‘Old Boy’. Their win follows in the footsteps of previous winners including Tasman Keith, Mo’ju and Sampa The Great. The video, directed by Raghay Rampal (VIDEOHEAD), was inspired by Park Chan-wook’s 2003 film Oldboy.
“The movie is so iconic and stylised, and has a lot of jaw-dropping scenes, so our approach was to pick the scenes we thought were the most iconic, and put each rapper into those scenes.” Rampal has said.
1300 – ‘Old Boy’
For the Done Good Award, 24 year old Gomeroi rapper Kobie Dee was acknowledged for his work in community, platforming and enriching First Nations communities through his various projects over the last year. Having organised the Gomeroi Nation tour, Kobie Dee was able to bring his music to Country and communities in Narrabi, Tamworth, Boggabilla and Walgett, as well as organising the Moree Block Party.
Kobie also launched the Know Role Models podcast (which has featured Adam Goodes), and has also been integral in organising songwriting workshops and raising awareness of mental health issues through his work as a youth ambassador.
2022 J Award Winners
- triple j Australian Album of the Year: Gang Of Youths – angel in realtime.
- Double J Artist of the Year: Midnight Oil
- Unearthed Artist of the Year: Elsy Wameyo
- triple j and rage Australian Music Video of the Year: 1300 – ‘Old Boy’ (dir. Raghay Rampal)
- Done Good Award: Kobie Dee
Further Reading
Here’s The Complete List of 2022 J Awards Nominees
