He turned all four chairs at his blind audition, choosing Team Melanie C. One of the other coaches likened his voice to the biggest names in rap, like Eminem and Kanye. So far, he’s delivered exceptional renditions of hip-hop classics, including Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” and The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar’s “Pray For Me.”
Every time he performs on The Voice, he steals the show, gaining new fans in the virtual world at the same time.
Despite all the hype, Yung Milla sticks to his roots, declaring that his appearance on The Voice Australia is “For my people, for my family, for everyone who believed.” So he’s organising a Semifinals Watch Party at a local secondary school.
PART 277 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE
I first covered Yung Milla’s story in December 2023 when he released the autobiographical track “Land Down Under.”
Since then, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the up-and-coming rapper – he’s been dropping bangers pretty consistently. But what got my attention first and foremost is all the good stuff he’s been doing for his community, including gigging in remote places, mentoring young Aboriginal creatives and proudly repping his heritage nationwide.
This year for NAIDOC Week, I approached his management for a feature, but it was eventually decided we’d put it on hold due to a “media blackout.” For a good reason, it turns out. Because, about the same time, teasers for season 15 of The Voice Australia started dropping, and I recognised Yung Milla in one of them.
From the first chapter of his journey on The Voice, the Larrakia Country native proved he’s not like other contestants.
At his blind audition, he honoured his brother – also a hip-hop artist going by the moniker J-MILLA – by performing a blistering version of his song, “All My Life.” While all the mentors fought to get him on their teams, he shared, “Every place, there’s good, there’s bad, there’s dark and rainbows; I just happened to grow up on the darker side of things. This is why I’m on this stage. This isn’t about me; this is about my family, my people back home, just to show hope that they can do it too.”
Ronan Keating, Melanie C, Kate Miller-Heidke and Richard Marx weren’t the only ones who noticed his attitude and his talent. The national media immediately started buzzing, praising Yung Milla as the one changing the game in Australian hip-hop.
Then, he smashed the knockout round and the quarterfinals out of the park. So now, he wants to share this achievement with his mob from the Top End, too.
This coming Saturday, September 20, Yung Milla will appear at a community gathering in Palmerston, NT. Organised to celebrate his journey as a contestant on The Voice, he describes it as a “full circle moment”. And it’s not a coincidence that the event will take place at the Driver Secondary School – it’s the artist’s former high school, where his dreams of embarking on a career in music were first seeded.
The live screening of The Voice Semifinals will be preceded by a program of performances from local fledgling acts, live DJ sets, sporting and youth activities, and a gold coin donation BBQ with all proceeds benefiting the school’s students. There’ll also be a premiere screening of “Where I’m From”, a new song developed between the rapper and the youth at Auntie’s Place.
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate progressing to The Voice Semifinals, to be honest.
Under one of the IG posts discussing Yung Milla’s blind audition, user hoppysworld40 stated: “Look, he probably won’t win because it’s a TV show and I can’t see a rap artist winning a TV show. But honestly, he doesn’t need to; this guy is bigger than this show, and absolutely world-class, and just the exposure alone will take him to the world stage. Best rap talent I’ve seen come out of Australia.”
Given what he has demonstrated on the program already, I reckon his chances of getting to the top are pretty high. The only question is: Is Australia ready to crown a First Nations rapper as The Voice Season 15 winner?
Follow The Voice Australia on Channel 7 to find out.
Cover photo: supplied
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