Indigenous hip-hop act A.B. Original wins Australian Music Prize

A heavily political album that included a protest song about Australia Day has won the $30,000 Australian Music Prize.

A.B. Original picked up $30,000 for winning the Australian Music Prize.

Indigenous hip-hop act A.B. Original has won this year’s Australian Music Prize.

The Melbourne duo of rapper Briggs and producer Trials took the $30,000 prize for their debut album Reclaim Australia, which earned critical acclaim when it was released in November last year.

The Australian Music Prize, now in its 12th year, recognises artistic excellence in an Australian album recorded in the previous year. Prizemoney is awarded by music industry body the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia.

The winning album, a heavily political assault that includes the single January 26, a protest song on the subject of Australia Day, beat eight other contenders, all of them by Victorian acts, including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Skeleton Tree and The Avalanches’ comeback album Wildflower.

“When we made this album - we thought it was career suicide.” the duo said in a statement. “For us to be afforded this platform with so many listeners is not lost on us. We went all out because we thought it was the last one we’d make. All of this support is igniting us to do another one! We are very grateful.”

Hoodoo Gurus singer Dave Faulkner, head of the AMP judging panel, said Reclaim Australia “is more than just a great Australian album, it’s a cultural landmark. It’s an angry, funny, heartfelt, slamming hip hop album that takes its inspiration from 90s gangsta rap, and filters it through a modern Aboriginal perspective.”

The announcement of the winner was made at a ceremony in Melbourne.