Budjerah
Birth nameBudjerah Slabb
OriginFingal Head, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active2019–present
LabelsWarner Music Australia (2020–present)
Websitebudjerah.com

Budjerah Slabb (born 2002), known mononymously as Budjerah, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter from Fingal Head, New South Wales. He is a Coodjinburra man from the Bundjalung nation.[1]

His debut single "Missing You" was released in October 2020. Budjerah performed the track live for Australian live music program The Sound on 6 December 2020.[2]

Early life

Budjerah Slabb was born in 2002. His parents are licensed pastors. Budjerah told NME "When I was born… it was like 'oh, we gotta do band rehearsal, we gotta do worship practice for Sunday' and I'd come along to that. I think just being surrounded by that, I learned a lot and it just stuck. I've just lived music all my life."[3]

Slabb said "I grew up singing Sam Cooke and listening to gospel singers like The Clark Sisters. That's the kind of music that has been around since I was little."[4]

Career

2019–present: Debut EP

Main article: Budjerah (EP)

In 2019, Budjerah auditioned for The Voice (Australian season 8), singing "Climb Every Mountain" but did not progress past the blind auditions.[5]

In September 2019, he uploaded the song "River Dry" onto Triple J Unearthed.[1]

In 2020, Budjerah found kinship with Matt Corby, who produced his debut EP.[6] In October 2020, Budjerah released his debut single, "Missing You" which topped the Triple J airplay chart.[1]

Hayden Daivs from PileRats said "Missing You is a spectacular introductory moment for Budjerah that combines pockets of his life with the music that defined it, bringing together a tapestry of long-time influences spread through soul, hip-hop, R&B, indie and pop only to distil it into a sound that seemingly moves between all of them, capturing the multi-faceted musical brain of someone whose moment has been a long time coming."[7]

In March 2021, Apple Music announced Budjerah as its latest local Up Next artist, an initiative to identify and showcase rising talent from across Australia and New Zealand. Budjerah said "I'm really excited to be included in Up Next Local on Apple Music for my brand new EP which I wrote with Matt Corby at his studio just down the road from my house. The songs are about different times in my life and all the different emotions that I feel."[6]

His self-titled debut EP was released on 26 March 2021.

In May 2021, Budjerah released Budjerah (Live At Rainbow Valley) which was recorded at Matt Corby's titular studio and features a live rendition of each of the four tracks on Budjerah's self-titled debut EP. In addition to Corby, fellow artists Ngaiire, Ainslie Wills, JK-47 and Stevan feature on the new EP.[8]

In August 2021, a limited edition CD of the self-titled EP was released.[9]

Discography

Extended plays

List of EPs, with release date and label shown
Title EP details Peak chart positions
AUS
[10]
Budjerah 72
Budjerah (Live at Rainbow Valley)
  • Released: 14 May 2021[12]
  • Label: Warner Music Australia
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
 —

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles, with year released, selected chart positions, and album name shown
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Hot
[13]
"Missing You"[14] 2020 — Budjerah
"Higher"[15] 2021 —
"Stranger Love"
(with Pnau)[16] 		34 TBA
"Talk"
(with May-a)[17] 		— TBA
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Music videos

List of music videos, with title, year released, and director(s) shown
Year Title Director(s) Ref.
2020 "Missing You" Mos & Co [18]
2021 "Higher" Mick Soiza [19]
"Stranger Love" (with PNAU) Tyler Hinde [20]
"Talk" (with May-a) Bourtney Crookes [17]

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual ceremony presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2021 Budjerah (EP) Best Artist Pending [21]
Breakthrough Artist Pending
Best Soul/R&B Release Pending
Mike Soiza for Budjerah – "Higher" Best Video Pending
Budjerah 2021 Aus Tour Best Australian Live Act Pending
Matt Corby for Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) Producer of the Year Pending
Engineer of the Year Pending
Chris Collins for Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) Pending

National Indigenous Music Awards

The National Indigenous Music Awards recognise excellence, innovation and leadership among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians from throughout Australia. They commenced in 2004.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2021 Himself New Artist of the Year Pending [22]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Budjerah JJJ Unearthed". Triple J Unearthed. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ "The Sound: Series Two, Episode 6 – Mick Molloy". ABC iview. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  3. ^ Caleb Triscari (25 March 2021). "Budjerah: Soulful singer-songwriter and Matt Corby mentee offers vibey, relatable R&B". NME. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. ^ "About". www.budjerah.com/. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  5. ^ "The Blind Auditions: Budjerah Slabb sings 'Climb Every Mountain' The Voice Australia 2019". YouTUbe. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Apple Music picks Budjerah as its latest local Up Next artist". The Music Network. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Meet Budjerah, who emerges with one of the year's best debut singles, Missing You". PileRats. October 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Budjerah releases Live At Rainbow Valley EP featuring Matt Corby and more". NME. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Budjerah (EP, T-Shirt and Zine)". warnermusic.com.au. August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  10. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 6 September 2021". The ARIA Report. No. 1644. Australian Recording Industry Association. 6 September 2021. p. 6.
  11. ^ "Budjerah – EP by Budjerah". Apple Music. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Budjerah (Live At Rainbow Valley) – EP by Budjerah". Apple Music. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  13. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Missing You – Single by Budjerah on Apple Music". Apple Music. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Higher – Single by Budjerah on Apple Music". Apple Music. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  16. ^ Brereton, Greta (28 May 2021). "Check out Budjerah and PNAU's new collaborative track "Stranger Love"". NME Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  17. ^ a b Triscari, Caleb (23 September 2021). "Budjerah joins forces with MAY-A on new pop single "Talk"". NME Australia. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Budjerah - Missing You (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Budjerah - Higher (Official Video)". YouTube. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  20. ^ "PNAU - Stranger Love feat. Budjerah (Official Video)". YouTube. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  21. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (20 October 2021). "ARIA Awards nominees revealed: Amy Shark & Genesis Owusu lead the charge". The Music Network. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  22. ^ Cashmere, Paul (8 July 2021). "NIMA Nominees Revealed". noise11. Retrieved 8 July 2021.

External links

Authority control databases: Artists
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