FORMER local and Indigenous artist, Adam Briggs (Briggs) has taken out the 2018 National NAIDOC Award for Artist of the Year for his pioneering work in the Australian hip hop scene and advocacy to Indigenous peoples as a writer, presenter, and actor.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Briggs thanked his nan for supporting him and paid tribute to his hometown, Shepparton.
“I’m a Yorta Yorta man, we’re a people that are storytellers so this was kind of in my blood to do this, we’ve been telling stories for 80,000 years, so I kinda had a head start,” Briggs said.
“My nan was my first audience. She let me be the artist that I wanted to be, she always encouraged me and I’d like to acknowledge her, Mary Briggs (nee Kelly).
“My platform as an artist for me was about changing things. I wanted to change the spectrum of what the industry looked like in Australia. I wanted to change the ideas of what an Indigenous artist could be, and I think we are achieving that. I wanted to change the face of what kids like me growing up in Shepparton what they think and what they know they can achieve.”
