Indigenous hip hop artist stuns on The Voice

Joseph Guenzler
Joseph Guenzler Published August 19, 2026 at 2.30pm (AWST)

Marranunggu hip-hop artist Yung Milla has made an immediate impact on The Voice Australia, earning a four-chair turn with a performance of his brother J-MILLA's 'All My Life'.

The 23-year-old artist took to the Blind Auditions on Tuesday night, performing the original track before coaches Melanie C, Ronan Keating, Richard Marx and Kate Miller-Heidke.

All four coaches turned their chairs shortly after Yung Milla began rapping, before competing to secure him for their teams.

Yung Milla told National Indigenous Times he entered the audition hoping to convince just one coach and found another level once the chairs began turning.

"Like everything, you go out there just hoping to turn the chair around just to get one," Yung Milla said.

"When I saw three of them turn, that's when it just locked me in more and just made me want to do it harder because now they're looking at me, they can see the way I look, they see my dark skin, so I've got to put more of a show on.

"It kind of made me perform even better the fact that they turned because they're looking at me now."

The audition drew huge praise from all four coaches, with Melanie C describing the performance as "world class" and saying rap was not seen enough on The Voice.

Mr Keating called Yung Milla's performance "so unique, so brilliant", while Miller-Heidke described it as "deadly" and declared "Yung Milla is next".

Mr Marx predicted the audition would mark the beginning of a major career, comparing the impact of Yung Milla's voice to the first time he heard rappers including Eminem and Kanye West.

"We're all going to remember where we were when we first heard Yung Milla," Marx said.

'All My Life' was written by Yung Milla's older brother J-MILLA, who has played an important role in his younger brother's development as an artist.

Yung Milla said producers had initially wanted him to perform one of his own songs, but he saw the national platform as an opportunity to recognise the support his brother had given him.

"My brother helped me out coming up. It's only right that I helped him out as well," Yung Milla said.

"He made that song, but it's meant for both of us. It's meant for all our people."

The family connection became part of the audition when J-MILLA was invited onto the stage and the brothers were asked to perform the song together.

The encore had not been planned, with Yung Milla describing sharing one of Australia's biggest stages with his brother as a surreal moment.

"That's my big brother, we're the same mob, same day, we've been through the same struggles and to share that moment on one of the biggest stages in Australia, you can only imagine how it feels," Yung Milla said.

"You just feel so much more powerful when you've got your brother there or you've got someone there that you love."

Yung Milla (left) performs 'All My Life' with his brother J-MILLA. (Image: supplied)

Yung Milla eventually chose Melanie C after each coach made their pitch, with Melanie C also using her block to prevent Mr Marx from securing him.

Despite the attention from all four coaches, Yung Milla already had Melanie C in mind because of her history working across pop and hip-hop.

"She's kind of the closest to hip-hop music - she's collaborated with rappers in her career," he said.

"They're all great coaches. They've all got their own talents of their own. But I just thought I'd match with Mel more."

Away from music, Yung Milla works in support and mentoring roles with young people, something he views as closely connected to why he began making music as a teenager.

He started making music at 15 after seeing its ability to reach people who did not necessarily find the same connection through sport and has since used it as another way to support his community.

Yung Milla picked Mel C (formerly baby spice of the Spice Girls) as his coach for his tenure on The Voice. (Image: supplied)

Yung Milla said progressing through The Voice would represent more than his own career, particularly for people in Darwin and across the Northern Territory.

"If I won this show, that's just, that's my people winning back home. That's my people winning all around Australia," Yung Milla said.

"I'm just being that person that I needed... it's helping out the younger generation now. So it's just a full circle moment."

The full audition is available to watch on the 7plus website.

Yung Milla will next appear on The Voice Australia when the competition continues on Seven and 7plus.

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National Indigenous Times

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