There’s no shortage of talent coming out of New South Wales right now, and tonight, some of the state’s brightest musical voices will come together to celebrate just that.
Now in its second year, the NSW Music Prize is returning to Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art to recognise the artists shaping the state’s music scene. With $160,000 up for grabs across three categories, it’s Australia’s richest state-based music prize, with the likes of Ninajirachi, Keli Holiday, Parcels and SPEED among this year’s finalists.
First Nations hip-hop supergroup 3% and rising singer-songwriter Zipporah are also in contention for major honours, with 3% nominated for the $40,000 NSW First Nations Music Prize and Zipporah’s Naungu Urui shortlisted for the $80,000 NSW Music Prize.
As they tell us below, the occasion is about much more than awards and recognition – there’s a shared commitment to storytelling, culture, community, and making such the next generation of Indigenous artists have a seat at the table.
Ahead of the ceremony, Zipporah and 3%’s Nooky and Mi-kaisha sat down for a candid conversation about everything from 3%’s next chapter and the importance of representation to their unlikely love of country music, the power of singing in language, and the artists they believe are leading the next generation.
Nooky: Your mum’s Like a Version just came out, eh?
Zipporah: I’m so proud of that one. Mum was stressing about what to cover. I told her it had to be Aus music and she landed on Boy Soda. He just has the sound right now. Mum was one of the only Melanesian Pacifica artists to break through back then, so a crossover of TSI and Samoa felt deadly. Then I said, ‘Why don’t you make it reggae?’ That pays homage to the music she grew up on.
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Nooky: Mad. Solid.
Zipporah: So when’s 3% doing one, now with Mi-kaisha? This is the Australian Black Eyed Peas.
Nooky: That’s exactly the vibe. We’d love to come back into the LAV studio, especially with Mi-kaisha in the group now.
Zipporah: MK, it’s been two months since you debuted with 3% at BIGSOUND. How’s it been?
Mi-kaisha: Madness. We’re in the thick of album writing and still learning our dynamic as three on stage. It’s thrown me in the deep end, but I’m swimming and having so much fun doing it.
Zipporah: And you were the first Aboriginal woman to…?
Mi-kaisha: …be accepted into the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. But we all fill in the gaps. These fellas are storytellers like I’ve never seen. I bring the feminine energy, the stagecraft and the organisation. Doesn’t matter how many degrees you give me, I’ll never learn how these fellas operate.
Nooky: When we started 3%, Dallas always said it was meant to evolve. Mi-kaisha joining felt like what it was always destined to be. That’s a mother’s voice coming through, representation for our daughters and nieces, and we needed that.
Zipporah: What made you say yes, MK?
Mi-kaisha: It was never a question. Nooks always does a soft launch: ‘Sis, can you jump in on a few gigs with us?’ A couple of shows later he goes, ‘Let’s make it official.’ I’ve been at most of their gigs since 2022, so I’d kind of always been part of the journey. These are my brothers. And being a woman in the music industry, particularly now in the hip-hop industry, I feel a responsibility to be unapologetically a Black woman in this space – speak up for what’s right, check people when they need checking. This is how we run it.
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Zipporah: Did you grow up on rap?
Mi-kaisha: I was an R&B girly – Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys. But my dad had a hip-hop show on Koori Radio, which is hilarious because he’s Tongan. Every Friday I’d sit in the studio with him with my packet of Cheezels hahaha.
Zipporah: And “Not Many” went freaking crazy with the NRL. Where’d that come from?
Nooky: It was in the folder back when we made the first album, then just fell by the wayside. Our manager never let it go though and was always bringing it up for us to work on. Fox Sports asked us back after we won the ARIA for last year’s campaign and they wanted something that would pump everyone up and feel nostalgic, and I thought, okay, this is the moment. We worked it up and sent it to Scribe. He said, ‘Go hard,’ and the rest is history.
Zipporah: That’s so deadly.
Zipporah: I’ve been watching Dallas do his thing for the longest time. He started grassroots. I first met him when he did that track with Baker Boy, over 10 years ago. How did you two link up?
Nooky: Yeah, when I was developing Blak Out, doing community consultation and listening to everyone’s songs. That was the first time I sat down with Dallas’ solo stuff properly, and I’m like, this lad’s insane. Hands down one of the best rappers in this country. I asked him to be in the launch video, he said, ‘We should go to the studio,’ and it just clicked. Eventually that became 3%.
Nooky: I’ve been smashing your track “White Flag” on Blak Out.
Zipporah: Yeah that one was just crazy. It’s not as R&B as where I started, but I loved how Rihanna would hit that heavy rock style back in the day. All the deadliest guitar players are Black. Hello, Slash! I was really wanting to put heavy guitar on it like I’m a rock star.
Nooky: I remember booking you for Parramatta Lanes. You’re little, but you’ve got a massive presence on stage. Like a giant up there.
Zipporah: Bro, I wouldn’t be doing a lot of this if it wasn’t for you giving me my first co-hosting spot on Blak Out. You’re the godfather of Black music in our industry and people don’t acknowledge that enough, so thank you!
Nooky: Solid, thanks sis. It’s always been about making sure we all win. It’d be a wasted opportunity to be in spots like triple j and not leave the door open for you mob. My dad taught me that. I brought Macca’s home once, left it on the table for two seconds, and my cousins smashed it. Dad said, ‘If you didn’t have enough to feed everybody, you should have ate outside.’ That clicked. I don’t want to just feed myself, I want to feed everybody.
Zipporah: I’m the same. Even on January 26, it’s always about the kids. They love getting up at Blak Powerhouse.
Nooky: That’s why Blak Powerhouse means so much. When you brought your mum out, seeing all them little kids singing with you both, you could see generations there. That moment really sticks with me.
Zipporah: Mum’s “Island Home” is 30 years old, and you’ve got five-year-olds singing it. That’s four generations singing the same song.
Zipporah: What music did you grow up on?
Nooky: Country. My nans would pick me up from school blasting Jimmy Little, Johnny Cash and Randy Travis. Every year my Spotify Wrapped is number one 50 Cent, number two Randy Travis. If I could sing, you wouldn’t catch me rapping.
Zipporah: Is there a world where 3% makes a country joint?
Nooky: A hundred percent. “Better Man” has some country influence on it. I’d explore that route more.
Zipporah: I’ve got a country song on my EP, about my son and my nephew. That’s how I heard it, because of storytellers like Uncle Troy Cassar-Daley. Listening to him was like sitting next to my uncle while he told me a yarn. Beautiful melodies and scenery, like shadows on the hill.
Nooky: You’ve always had that storytelling in you. But music wasn’t actually the plan at first, was it?
Zipporah: Nah, I was a dancer. I wanted to be in Bangarra, and everyone I looked up to went through NAISDA, so that felt like my path. Then I had a hip reconstruction at 16, and I couldn’t dance the way I used to. Music had always been the backup at that point, but I never took it seriously.
Nooky: So what changed?
Zipporah: Mum. She was doing the WugulOra Morning Ceremony at Barangaroo and said, ‘You’ve got to have an outlet.’ So I got wheeled out to the sand circle in my little wheelchair, and we sang “Kulba Yaday”, her first language song. That was it for me. You hear really old language, and you feel it inside you. I got the bug, and I never looked back. I loved singing in language to people, explaining what the song meant, then teaching it to the other kids at school. We went around NSW and the ACT singing it. It gave me so many opportunities, but I also got to bring the rest of the Blackfella kids at school along with me, through the power of language music.
Zipporah: Speaking of storytellers, Jem Cassar-Daley’s been given that gift as well. She’s so quick. That girl could write a song in the shower and it’d be finished, going number one.
Nooky: I’ve been in the studio with her. She’s super fast, and her control over her melodies is phenomenal. The sisters is where it’s always been at: you, Jem, Becca Hatch, Kyla Bell. Kyla’s the future, straight up.
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Zipporah: Yesssssss, favourite rapper?
Nooky: Barkaa. Best male or female in this country. She’s the king and the queen of this game.
Mi-kaisha: Period. Not another name came to mind.
Nooky: Not a spiteful bone in her body.
Zipporah: On the NSW Music Prize though. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be in a category with Parcels. I’ve been listening to them since high school. Then there’s Ninajirachi, who just played Coachella. My EP Naungu Urui, is a language EP, with cultural instrumentation all through it. To see it sitting next to these huge international projects is wild.
Zipporah: Tell me about the tracks yous are up for?
Nooky: We’re nominated for three singles: “Running Through My Head”, “Better Man” and “Our Greats”. I wrote “Our Greats” with my daughter, so that one means a lot. If we win, we’re taking the kids out for ice cream and Devon sandwiches for everyone. But I’ll give you the sensible answer, we’ll probably finish the album but if you see us in Disneyland, don’t worry about it.
Nooky: What about you?
Zipporah: I’d take it back to Rocky and take everyone to Great Keppel Island.
Zipporah: MK, this is your first nomination with 3%. How does it feel?
Mi-kaisha: Look, all I have to say is I love a red carpet. As long as we’re nominated and I get to walk down that carpet, I’m a happy girl hahah! Nah we are so grateful to be recognised.
