Genesis Owusu Leads triple j's 2026 J Award Nominations With Three
Genesis Owusu has three nominations at the 2026 J Awards, more than any other artist on this year's list. The triple j awards recognise Australian music, and the nominations were published by Billboard on 29 October 2026.
Owusu is up for Australian album of the year for Redstar Wu & The Worldwide Scourge. He is also nominated for Australian live act of the year, and for music video of the year for "Stampede", directed by Isaac Brown.
Three other artists have two nominations each. Ecca Vandal is nominated for Australian live act of the year and for Australian album of the year for Looking For People To Unfollow. Julia Jacklin is up for Australian album of the year for The Gem, and for music video of the year for "The Hardest Thing", directed by Danny Cohen. Miss Kaninna is nominated for Australian live act of the year and for music video of the year for "Backstreets", directed by Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore.
The winners will be announced on air on Thursday afternoon, 12 November. The awards cover five categories: Australian album of the year, Unearthed artist of the year, Double J artist of the year, Australian music video of the year and Australian live act of the year. Unearthed is triple j's platform for emerging artists, and Double J is its sister station.
Owusu has been in this territory before. He won triple j's Australian Album of the Year in 2021, according to ABC triple j, and 2026 is his third run at the category. He also won Australian live act of the year when that category was first introduced.
His 2021 run stretched beyond triple j. At that year's ARIA Awards, Australia's main music industry prizes, he was nominated for seven awards and won four, including Album of the Year. He is also known by his full name, Kofi Owusu Ansah.
The ARIA Awards are on the calendar too. In September, ARIA announced that Owusu, Ecca Vandal and Tame Impala were nominated for Best Alternative Release, a category returning for the first time since 2016. That is a separate contest from the J Awards, which are voted for by triple j's audience, and the two sets of results will not be decided on the same night.
For the artists on the list, the next stop is 12 November, when each nominee will hear whether their name is read out on air.
