{"id":542256,"date":"2026-07-10T05:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T05:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/542256\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T05:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T05:40:10","slug":"2026-nimas-nominations-baker-boy-drifting-clouds-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/542256\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NIMAs Nominations: Baker Boy, Drifting Clouds Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBaker Boy, 3% and Jem Cassar-Daley will duke it out for artist of the year at Australia\u2019s 2026 National Indigenous Music Awards\u00a0(NIMAs<\/a>), one of six categories to be presented during a ceremony Saturday, Aug. 8 at Darwin Amphitheatre.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso making the shortlist for artist of the year, the top category on the night, is Birdz and Fred Leone, BUMPY, Miss Kaninna and South Summit.<\/p>\n

\n\tBaker Boy (real name: Danzal Baker), a multiple ARIA Award winner, has chances for album of the year (Djandjay), film clip of the year and song of the year (\u201cTHICK SKIN\u201d\u00a0featuring Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee\u2019ahn & Jada Weazel), and will perform on the night.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Drifting Clouds, the rising talent from northeast Arnhem Land who\u00a0blends ancient songlines with dreamy \u201880s synth-pop, is up for best new talent, plus best song and best video clip for \u201cBawuypawuy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a brace of nominations for Cassar-Daley, winner of two awards at the 2026 QMAs<\/a>, and the daughter of beloved Aussie country star Troy Cassar-Daley. The Queensland singer and songwriter is nominated in the NIMAs song of the year category for \u201cFront Left Pocket,\u201d while hip-hop act 3% doubles-up with a film clip of the year nod for \u201cOur Greats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEmma Donovan, Trials and Stiff Gins are among the 24 artists nominated for this year\u2019s NIMAs, which takes place during a week-long celebration of First Nations excellence, alongside the\u00a0Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair\u00a0(DAAF), the\u00a0National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards\u00a0(NATSIAA) and the\u00a0National Indigenous Fashion Awards\u00a0(NIFA), running Aug. 5\u201311.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c2026 National Indigenous Music Awards nominees\u00a0represent an extraordinary diverse showcase of the incredible talent shaping First Nations music today. This year\u2019s list is one of our strongest yet, celebrating artists who are pushing creative boundaries, sharing powerful stories and continuing to inspire audiences across this country,\u201d comments Catherine Satour, chairperson of Music NT, the trade association that organizes the annual ceremony. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCongratulations to every finalist, looking forward to honoring your achievements together on Larrakia Country in August.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t2026 NIMAs Categories:<\/p>\n

\n\tArtist Of The Year
3%
Baker Boy
Birdz and Fred Leone
BUMPY
Jem Cassar-Daley
Miss Kaninna
South Summit<\/p>\n

Best New Talent
Drifting Clouds \u2013\u00a0\u201cBawuypawuy\u201d
Inkabee
Jet Cameron
Say True God?
Dallas Woods, Nooky, Fred Leone, RIAH &\u00a0Soju Gang \u2013\u00a0\u201cVoices of Resistance\u201d
Zipporah \u2013\u00a0\u201cSome Typa Way\u201d<\/p>\n

Album Of The Year
Baker Boy \u2013\u00a0Djandjay
Birdz & Fred Leone \u2013\u00a0GIRA
Emma Donovan \u2013\u00a0Take Me to The River
Say True God? \u2013\u00a0BLAK
Stiff Gins \u2013\u00a0Crossroads
Trials \u2013\u00a0Hendle
\u00a0
Film Clip Of The Year
3% \u2013\u00a0\u201cOur Greats\u201d
Baker Boy \u2013\u00a0\u201cTHICK SKIN\u201d\u00a0feat. Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee\u2019ahn & Jada Weazel
Birdz & Fred Leone \u2013\u00a0\u201cWanya Nyin Yanmanj\u201d
Drifting Clouds \u2013\u00a0\u201cBawuypawuy\u201d
Kobie Dee \u2013\u00a0\u201cAim For The Stars\u201d
South Summit \u2013\u00a0\u201cTop of the Hill\u201d<\/p>\n

Community Clip Of The Year
Bulman School & Community \u2013\u00a0\u201cLOK LOK MAH BURARR\u201d\u00a0(Lizard & Goanna)
Geraldton TIS \u2013\u00a0\u201cBarndi Yarraly\u201d\u00a0(Vaping is Vicious, Not Delicious)
K2 the B and CJR \u2013\u00a0\u201cBarunga\u201d
Mossman Gorge \u2013\u00a0\u201cYundu Bama Yalada\u201d
Mossman Mob \u2013\u00a0\u201cStill Believing\u201d
Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) \u2013\u00a0\u201cAll The Way From The NPA\u201d
Wujal Wujal \u2013\u00a0\u201cRainforest to the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n

Song Of The Year
Baker Boy \u2013\u00a0\u201cTHICK SKIN\u201d\u00a0feat. Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee\u2019ahn & Jada Weazel
Birdz & Fred Leone \u2013\u00a0\u201cWanya Nyin Yanmanj\u201d
Drifting Clouds \u2013\u00a0\u201cBawuypawuy\u201d
Jem Cassar-Daley \u2013\u00a0\u201cFront Left Pocket\u201d
Yung Maynie \u2013\u00a0\u201cAlways Was\u201d
ZIPPORAH \u2013\u00a0\u201cSome Typa Way\u201d<\/p>\n

2026 Live Performance Lineup
Baker Boy
BIG NOTER
Bumpy
Casii Williams
Electric Fields
South Summit
Stiff Gins
Zipporah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baker Boy, 3% and Jem Cassar-Daley will duke it out for artist of the year at Australia\u2019s 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[13724,93,61,60,278,230300],"class_list":["post-542256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bbnews","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music","tag-nimas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}