AB Original – the hip-hop pairing of the rapper and actor Briggs and the producer Trials – has become the first Indigenous act to win the $30,000 Australian Music prize, beating shortlisted artists including Nick Cave and the Avalanches.

“It sucks to be them,” Briggs laughed, of their competitors. “Normally it sucks to be us!”



Briggs said the win, which they accepted at an event in Melbourne on Thursday night, was a “reflection of all the artists that came before us, who allowed us to be able to walk up tonight and win this”, listing Archie Roach, Kutcha Edwards and Ruby Hunter among others. “All these artists paved the way for artists like us to be able to achieve this. It’s because of them, they made the foundation. So I think that’s what us walking up tonight and accepting this thing is going to be about.”

Decided on by a panel of independent judges consisting of artists, journalists and music retailers, the AMP – now in its 12th year – is considered Australia’s most prestigious album prize and was won in 2016 by Courtney Barnett.

Also shortlisted for this year’s award were DD Dumbo, Big Scary, Camp Cope, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Olympia and the Peep Tempel.

AB Original have won for their debut album, Reclaim Australia, a title that plays on the name of the far-right group of so-called “patriots”, an album that packs a political punch. “Our record hasn’t been done before, from this point of view at this level,” Briggs said. “So I guess this [win] reflects that too.”

The album included the single January 26, a call-to-arms to change the date of Australia Day. Last year, as Triple J faced pressure to move its Hottest 100 broadcast to a more inclusive day, a Facebook campaign sprung up encouraging listeners to vote for the song in solidarity with the protesters. The song ended up in the top 20 of the countdown.

When asked if their placing in the Hottest 100 felt like a political or artistic achievement, Trials said it was both: “You can’t really have one without the other. We could have obviously talked all that shit without having a kick-arse song.”

Briggs added: “Third layer – it was also an ironic achievement.”

With their record, the pair said they wanted to simply start a broader conversation.

“January 26 ended up being the main song that set all this off but hopefully people discovered the other messages in there too,” Trials said. “Its [success] is a reflection of the time right now.”

Dave Faulkner, the chairman of the judging panel and a member of the Hoodoo Gurus, said: “Reclaim Australia is more than just a great Australian album, it’s a cultural landmark ... It hits hard politically, musically and emotionally and the stories AB Original are telling are ones we all need to hear right now.”

Briggs and Trials were undecided on what they would be spending the money on but a second album isn’t off the table.

“We’re independent artists man, it costs us to make records – that’s where this is going,” Briggs said. “If we had some reach and pissed some people off with this record, you wait till we have $30,000 for the next one.”

• AB Original are playing at Womadelaide, which runs from 10-13 March