Sydney Hip Hop Artist BLESSED Announces Debut Album ‘Aussie Blackstar’

Ghanaian-born, Sydney-based artist BLESSED has announced details of his debut studio album, Aussie Blackstar. The ten song release is out on Friday, 3rd June, via Rainbow Valley Records/Warner Music Australia.

Aussie Blackstar includes the singles ‘No Changes’ and ‘Down Under’, which came out earlier in 2022. BLESSED has shared the official music video for the record’s latest single, ‘Love Yourself’. Watch the Trav Leslie-directed clip below.

BLESSED is the project of Western Sydney artist and producer, Blessed Samuel Joe-Andah, who previously worked under the name Miracle. As Miracle, Joe-Andah released the album Mainland in 2014, when he was 18 years old. Joe-Andah ditched the Miracle alias a couple of years later and relaunched his career as BLESSED, which is his real first name.

BLESSED has collaborated with Milan Ring, The Kid LAROI, Manu Crooks, B Wise and more. BLESSED’s first consolidated body of work was the 2020 mixtape, Music is the Medicine.

Of the upcoming album, Aussie Blackstar, BLESSED said, “Australia is one of the most multicultural places on the earth and that’s not being showcased. We have a deeper history of deeper culture. I feel like right now, there’s a big awakening to a mass consciousness. People are starting to wake up. The people are changing, the people’s voices are getting louder, but the system isn’t changing.”

BLESSED added, “As a kid growing up here, I was always looking outside our borders. I was looking to America and trying to be American. But that’s not me, I didn’t grow up there. I really wish I had people to look up to, to say, ‘it’s cool to be where you’re from’. I want to make a difference in that way.”