Artist on Artist: With Aussie hip hop’s own sibling dream team J-Milla and Yung Milla

Aussie hip hop has its own sibling dream team, Marranunggu rappers J-Milla and Yung Milla, are about to hit Sydney with ‘Same Blood’

Ahead of their upcoming sets at Live Nation Australia’s Ones To Watch in Darwin, and SXSW Sydney, we caught up with the brothers for a chat that’s all about the music that moves them, the family that grounds them, and why Australian hip hop deserves a place at the global table.

Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of music, in our exclusive artist on artist interview, exploring everything that comes with—from navigating mainstream media’s BS to uncovering the real talk that defines these rising stars. Plus, we’ll throw in a cheeky ‘would you rather’ for good measure.

J-Milla:  What inspires you the most when  it comes to music and life in general? 

Yung Milla:  Probably the struggle, bro. What we grew up with. It just makes me push harder. I want more. Growing up, we didn’t have a lot. So it just makes me want to go harder, brother. What about you?

J-Milla: You know, I totally agree with that, bro. I feel all right now. My inspiration is coming from my children, my two kids, my baby girl and my baby boy.

Cause it’s not only about me anymore, and what I’m doing is for a brighter future for my kids. So,  yeah, children play a big role. 

Yung Milla: So what was your first music memory? 

J-Milla: Ah, so my first music memory takes me back to when I was probably about eight years old. You would have been about four actually.

We were sleeping at our cousin’s house and we were in our cousin’s room, and right before we went to bed, I told my big cousin to rap a verse from Ice Cube in a NWA song called Gangster Gangster.

He knew it off by heart and I wanted him to teach me. And, yeah, he had the last say of the night and that was my first music memory. Just kind of practicing that rap verse from Ice Cube. What about yours, brother? What was your first music memory?

Yung Milla:  To be honest with you, bro, my first music memory was when you ripped me a rap of another verse of The Spice Girls and I use that rap even now this age. 

J-Milla: Yeah, I do remember that, bro.  So how did the rap go?

Yung Milla: Here’s a little story from A to Z. If you want to be my friend, you gotta listen carefully. Oh yeah. That was that one.

J-Milla: I do remember that. Yeah. No, well done.

Yung Milla: I remember it being a bloody gangster rap. 

J-Milla: So who were some of the music artists you looked up to when you were first starting out?

Yung Milla: Well, I don’t mean to be biased, but you know, you were one of the artists I was looking up to as a big brother in the industry, straight up paving the way for me.

So you were definitely up there, brother, but definitely Tupac, but not even just the music sense, just him as a person and how he holds himself.  But what about you, bro? Who were some artists you were inspired to be like?

J-Milla:  I agree with you on Tupac. Tupac played a big role. I think NWA, Akon. We grew up listening to a lot of Akon. And then in the early 2000s, there was T-Pain.

There was Chris Brown, Tiger, Kid Ink, a whole range of categories. But at the moment, who are you listening to right now, Yung Miller? 

Yung Milla: Right now? Well, I don’t want to be biased again, but you know, I listen to you, bro. I listen to J-Miller.

I’m touching on more of the Australian scene. So I’m listening to Young N Lips, bro. Day One. Onefour, bro. All the boys.

J-Milla: I agree with you. You know, I’m listening right now to all your  unreleased music. I care about all the other artists, but I don’t care about them as much as  I do for you. But, I think you’re up on the rise, brother.

Yung Milla: Thank you, bro. 

J-Milla: But, yeah,  same, same. All the up and coming artists, brother boys like Kobe Dee, 3%. We’ve got a lot of talent, JK 47, ECB family. There’s a big mob of other local artists, Lil Mace, Marsh Mini, shout out to Big Noise, Black Fella Entertainment. But, yeah, all the local artists at the moment we’re listening to from Australia.

Yung Milla: What role does Brotherhood play in your musical career? How does it influence  your music? 

J Milla:  That’s a great question. I think for me, the Brotherhood role that plays on me and the music, I would say for me being a big brother would just be setting a good example, always taking every opportunity that comes my way and just kind of making sure that I’m that motivation and inspiration for not only you, but the younger generation that’s coming up. And I just want to lead by a good example, brother.

And you know, nothing means more for me to have you along the side on not only a feature on a track, but also on the stage, bro. Cause no one else rocks it like you do. 

Yung Milla: Thank you.

J-Milla: What are your thoughts on the Australian music industry and would you have anything to change?

Yung Milla: Well, I know for a fact that the Australian music industry is actually coming up. It’s getting on the map, bro. It’s going around worldwide.

We see a lot of Australian artists actually traveling  around overseas, you know, in the States and stuff. So that we’re definitely coming up on the scene. 

J-Milla: I think so for me as an Australian hip hop rapper, I feel like hip hop is overlooked in this country.

 Yeah. I feel like no one really is jumping on the Australian hip hop scene. We’ve got so much talent here that I feel like the rest of the world really needs to hear what hip hop sounds like in Australia.

But, yeah, I don’t think there would be much I would change about the scene. I just feel like us artists probably need a bit more recognition on not only just the sound we make, but the stories we’ve got to say and the words, how we can connect with other artists and other people.

Yung Milla:  How do you think artists can best support each other’s careers? What do you both do that serves this purpose? 

J-Milla: Good question Yung Miller. I feel like it’s just connection. I think you need to make a bond and build a  connection and just share stories.

Always give solid feedback. Always, you know, keep it real, keep it real with each other. And we got each other’s backs.

Yung Milla: Yeah. I think one thing that, you and I have, you know, being brothers, we’re actually very honest with each other about our music. We’re not trying to be biased.

We’re not trying to, you know, sugarcoat anything. We’re actually a hundred percent honest. If  we don’t think it’s that good, if something needs changing, we’re actually very honest with each other and the parts that we need to do better.

And so I think just being real in the music that you’re making. 

J-Milla: Yeah. A hundred percent, bro. And I think all the other, other artists out there need to, you know, take on the same role that we do. There’s no competition. We’re all in it together at the end of the day.

Yeah. Mad love. Well done.

J-Milla: Where are we up to here? How do you think artists can best support each other’s? What do you both deserve this purpose? How does your family and community influence your music, Young Milla?

Yung Milla: Yeah. Well, my music comes from my experience and that’s everything that’s around me, which is my family and my community.

So everything that I do sing about is about my family and community. And I guess it’s just what I see on a daily basis, you know, where we’re from, right? We know we’ve got a lot of struggle. We know there’s a lot of violence.

There’s a lot of dark areas and I’m just bringing it to the light and talking about it. Yeah. 

J-Milla: Straight up, bro, that’s deadly.There’s a lot of experiences that come through how we were raised and, you know, just even traumatic experiences that’s happened in the past couple of years.

It gets us to kind of pinpoint and highlight these traumatic experiences that other mob can relate to. So I agree with you, brother.

Yung Milla: What advice would you give to aspiring  musicians? 

J-Milla: So all the other upcoming artists that are doing their thing at the moment, I reckon the main advice that I’d probably give you, Mob, because we’re in a time and era that social media plays a massive role. I feel like you want to sell yourself. You want to show your hidden talent that others can’t see.

So be consistent with social media. Be consistent of striving for your passion. Never go a day without writing or recording or even thinking about your music.

Every inspiration that comes your way, just dot points, just dot point down lyrics and just stay true to yourself and stay true to that one vision that you have. I feel like, you know, it’s a consistency game and being persistent.

Never give up and the outcomes will show. All right Yung Milla, we’re going into a would you rather question. Now, my question to you, bro, would you rather eat your poo poo or would you rather drink your wee wee?

Yung Milla: Oh bro! Do I be honest, bro? 

J-Milla: You’d eat your poo.

Yung Milla: I would not eat my poo. I’d drink my wee wee, bro. Because you think about it, that’s just water.

That’s just water coming through your body, and it’s just turning into other liquid. And if you were in the desert, you’d survive off your wee. Yeah, right.

J-Milla:  Okay, that was just a bit of a muck around. Well done, brother. I agree.

Yung Milla: Now, on a serious music level now,  would you rather make a collaboration with Chris Brown? Or you could go back into time and make a collab with Michael Jackson?

Who would you pick?  And thinking about everything, I know Chris Brown’s popping now, but overall, bro, out of those two people, who would you pick to collab with? 

J-Milla: Oh, well, it’d be Michael Jackson, bro. He started everything.

Yung Milla: Yeah, fact.

J-Milla: Who would you choose? That’s a good question. 

Yung Milla: Michael Jackson, you can’t take away  the crown, but I feel like for our particular style that we’re into at the moment, yeah, it’s a hard one.

J-Milla: Yeah. All right. Well done.

Yung Milla: All right, bro. Yep. Thank you, bro.

J-Milla: One more question here, brother. And it’s overall in life, what makes you happy?

Yung Milla: What makes you happy the most? Well, bro, it’s pretty easy. I’d say my family, bro.

Yeah, straight up. When I’m down, it’s my family that I’m calling. Yeah.

Yung Milla: So that’s pretty easy. What about you, bro? 

J-Milla:  Yeah, bro. You can’t beat family. I feel like my kids make me happy. Every morning I wake up  and I see my two little babies, and that’s the reason why I’ve got a smile on my face.

But yeah, even visiting home and visiting the community environment I originated from, that makes me happy as well.

But before we head off, I just want to ask you, bro, how did you feel when NT News put you up on the cover of NT News of what happened with the whole assault charges, brother? How did that make you feel, bro?

Yung Milla: It was devastating, bro. It made me feel ill, because we’ve seen our family go through that system, and we’re the one making the change. We’re our last name.

And just to see our face up on a bad platform, it was, yeah, it wasn’t a good feeling.

J-Milla: Yeah,  because the news and media don’t really care. They’re quick to just put anything up that’s going to sell.

And I feel like for me and you to be on that front cover of something so serious, I feel like it’s promoting the violence rather than stopping it.

I feel like the news is promoting what we’re doing in front of these little kids. And these little kids look up and look us to the point. They probably want to do the same thing. You know what I mean? So yeah, it’s a touchy one. All right.

Yung Milla: J-Milla, how do you feel about the Same Blood Showcase? How do you feel about performing in front of the music industry as brothers?

J-Milla: We’ve already done a couple shows in the past and every show that I’ve had with you on stage, it’s always been the best experience so far. The energy that we come up with together is unbeatable and the energy that we get from the people that are coming up to the show is unbeatable.

So it’s nothing but high energies and to rock the stage with you as my little brother, we always did this growing up as a kid, rapping to each other and dancing.

I feel like it’s a blessing, and to rock the stage with you, that’s exactly what I wanted to do, my bro. So straight up, it’s a blessing. 

Now, how do you feel about it all, bro? 

Yung Milla: Yeah, bro. You said it the best. You know, we’ve dreamt of this ever since a youngin’, so to really be living it is, yeah, it’s surreal.

It’s amazing,  and it’s a blessing that we got this opportunity. And being brothers, nothing can beat it.

J-Milla: Peace. Love. Thanks.

Yung Milla: Cheers, bro.