It's a massive congratulations to Matt Corby, Sampa The Great, Tones and I, and Heidi Lenffer!

The J Awards have been handed out for 2019 and after some tough decisions here at triple j HQ, it's time to roll out the red carpet to the winners.

Matt Corby's accomplished, transportative second album Rainbow Valley has scored the coveted Australian Album of the Year, picking up the prize at the J Awards ceremony in Sydney this afternoon.

"I really wasn’t expecting it,” Corby told Veronica and Lewis on air after giving an emotional speech at the podium.

He's been busy working "on a bunch of stuff with a few different people" this year, including collaborations with Tash Sultana and “biggest lords ever” Triple One. But the blue-eyed soulster did reveal he's working on another full-length project.

In 2020, he'll "probably be working on another record... hopefully it'll be out by next year but I'm not too sure right now."

The Road To Rainbow Valley: Matt Corby unpacks his accomplished new album Playing and singing every part on his second album, a more relaxed Corby lets fatherhood and his idyllic rural environment into his music.



Sampa The Great missed out on Album of the Year for her debut The Return, but claimed two major wins. The Zambian-Australian artist was honoured as the Double J Artist of the Year and took out the Australian Music Video of the Year, for her visual tour de force 'Final Form'.

"This year has been huge for me," Sampa said in a video acceptance speech. "The album, the music and everything else, thank you for supporting me. I really appreciate it."

Director Sanjay De Silva says the aim of the video was "about sharing Sampa's culture and country with Australians."

"[It's about] where she’s from and the importance of representation, the importance of having black and brown faces on our screens and behind our cameras, and what it means to people of colour in this country.”

Hear Sampa discuss her double win with Veronica and Lewis, and what it's like having the Smiths (that's Will and Jada Pinkett) as fans.

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Barun Chatterjee Image:





The Unearthed Artist of the Year Award went to Tones And I. The busker who blew up Unearthed with her debut single in February has been racking up career milestones all year.

"I'm going to remember 2019 for the rest of my life," said Toni Watson, aka Tones, in a video acceptance speech fresh from making her US TV debut.

"I truly believe that [Unearthed] put me on the platform to do whatever I could possibly do or be whatever I could possibly be."

Hear Tones and I reflect on her wild year and what comes next with Veronica and Lewis.

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Heidi Lenffer, from Sydney band Cloud Control, took out the inaugural You Done Good J Award - a brand new category celebrating the contributions of people working in the music industry.

Lenffer's win recognised her environmental work fronting FEAT., a world-first initiative giving local artist the chance to invest money into renewable solar energy to offset the carbon footprint that comes from touring.

She's already got artists like Jack River, Peking Duk, Peter Garrett, Ziggy Alberts and Woodes on board, with more joining the cause.

"So many of my friends care about the climate," Heidi told Veronica and Lewis after the win. "It’s been really overwhelmingly good, I’ve been busy”

She's a few months away from connecting a solar farm to the grid and "we’ve got so many farms to build," she added. "We’ve got $5 million into the fund already."

Read up further on five J Award winners right here. Another massive congrats to them all!

J Awards 2019 Winners

triple j Australian Album of the Year: Matt Corby – Rainbow Valley

Unearthed Artist of the Year: Tones And I

Double J Artist of the Year: Sampa The Great

triple j and Rage Australian Music Video of the Year: Sampa The Great's 'Final Form' [Directed by Sanjay De Silva]

You Done Good Award: Heidi Lenffer