Yung Milla Becomes First Rapper to Win The Voice Australia 2026

Yung Milla's Grand Finale win

Darwin-based Marranunggu rapper Yung Milla was crowned the winner of The Voice Australia 2026 during the Grand Finale broadcast on Channel 7 and 7plus. The 22-year-old, whose real name is Levi Nichaloff, was announced as the victor by host Sonia Kruger, with reports confirming that he became the first rapper to win the Australian singing competition. Yung Milla outperformed fellow finalists Daisha Auda, The 60Four and Tommy Novak in season 15 of the program.

A historic first for Australian rap

Yung Milla's victory is being framed by Australian media as a milestone for hip-hop representation on a mainstream talent franchise. According to SBS NITV, he is the first rapper to win The Voice Australia, breaking a format traditionally dominated by vocal balladists. SBS NITV reported his Grand Finale opening performance of 2Pac's "Changes" and a duet with coach Melanie C on "Never Be The Same Again," in which he tackled the rap verse originally performed by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.

Coach Melanie C and the season's journey

Yung Milla competed on the team of former Spice Girl Melanie C, who served as his coach throughout season 15. Speaking after the finale, he credited her with making him "stronger as a person, as an artist," while Melanie C told him he had affected "everybody who's been in a room with you, everybody at home." His run on the show began in August when he turned all four judges' chairs with an original song, "All My Life," written by his brother and fellow hip-hop artist J-Milla, and continued through performances of Men At Work's "Land Down Under" featuring the yidaki and a choir, and Kendrick Lamar's "Pray For Me" in the quarter-finals.

The prize and what it funds

According to TV Central, the winner receives a $100,000 cash prize along with an all-inclusive recording development package covering production, recording, mixing and mastering, as well as access to Australian A&R and label services. The package is designed to convert Yung Milla's television breakthrough into a professional next step for original music, giving him industry resources while he continues to center stories of his community and life in the Northern Territory.

First Nations representation on the finale stage

Yung Milla's win coincided with another first: 15-year-old Daisha Auda became the youngest Voice Australia finalist and the first Torres Strait Islander artist to reach the Grand Finale, according to SBS NITV. In Darwin, SBS NITV reported that hundreds of people gathered at a community watch party to follow the vote count, underscoring the broader significance of two First Nations artists reaching one of Australia's biggest televised stages.

The personal toll behind the win

In an interview with New Idea the morning after the finale, Yung Milla reflected on the pressure and responsibility that came with his journey. He told the magazine that his community was "always at the front of his mind," describing growing up on "the darker side of things" in Darwin and his subsequent work as a support worker and mentor. Speaking about his grandfather's reaction, he said: "My Pop he's saying 'Rappers don't go on there!' I didn't believe it, but we did it." He framed his win as belonging to "my family, my people back home."