Structure
In year one, the Acclaim All-Stars initiative includes three award categories:
Rookie of the Year (best emerging talent) – Presented by PUMA
This award will be decided based on votes cast by an industry panel. Panelists have been selected based on a demonstrated legacy of supporting and working within the hip hop industry. The general public are not eligible to vote for this award.
People’s Champ (the people’s choice)
This award will be decided by votes cast by the general public. Any artist or group may be nominated (some eligibility criteria applies)
MVP (song of the year)
This award will be decided by votes cast by the general public. Votes must be made against a short-list of the top fifty Australian hip hop songs for 2020. This short-list will be determined based on public streaming data.
Wild Card – Presented by Beats by Dr Dre
In addition to the above awards, Acclaim will select one artist or group from outside of the finalists list to receive a Wild Card. This card will be reserved for an emerging talent, deemed worthy of the spotlight that this card will give them. The Wild Card recipient will be featured in the Finals Team cover alongside the awards finalists and will be profiled on the All-Stars site.
Timeline
Voting for the Acclaim 2020 All-Stars commences on October 1st 2020 and closes October 31st 2020.
Five finalists in each award will be announced on November 13th via the unveiling of a Finals Team digital cover.
The winner of each award will be announced over the following weeks with digital cover-features unveiled to coincide with each award announcement.
Rookie of the Year Industry Voting Panel
Adam Booth |
Weez |
Calibre/EMI Music |
Alexander Franco |
|
Sony Music Australia |
Aman Bayatly |
|
Team ON3 |
Andrew Montell |
|
Archetype |
Aniela Swiatek |
|
Thinking Loud |
Ben Martin |
|
Universal Music/Golden Era |
Carolina Da La Piedra |
Carolina Gasolina |
FBI Radio/DJ |
Cass Navarro |
|
Acclaim Magazine |
Christopher Kevin AU |
24 Karat Kev |
Filter Mag |
Dan |
Mz Rizk |
DJ/Boogie Beat Suite 3PBS FM |
Daniel Monge |
RollingUp |
HipHopCharts.com.au |
Dhir Kal |
Slim Set |
Fbi Radio |
Dom Alessio |
|
Sounds Australia |
Ebony Boadu |
Ebony |
Triple J |
Erol Yurdagul |
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Mushroom Music Publishing |
Gareth Watkins |
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Owner/Director Think Out Loud |
Harry Hayes |
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Inertia Music |
Hau Latukefu |
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Triple J/Sony Music |
Henoke Nega |
Hancoq |
Mirage Records |
Henry Owens |
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Acclaim, Sniffers |
Huw Araniego-Ellis |
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Warner Music Group Australia |
Jade Zoe |
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DJ |
James Browning |
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Niche? |
Jarrod |
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Off The Clef Hip Hop |
Jerry Poon |
|
Founder of The Operatives |
Joshua Taylor-Anderson |
|
Call & Response |
Jourdan D’amore |
|
Head of Bodega Collective |
Julian Palei |
Scooter Pro |
HipHopCharts.com.au / MDE |
Julie Fenwick |
|
Acclaim contributor |
Junor |
|
Founder AU Dollar$ |
Kishnel Chand |
|
Team ON3 |
Krystel Diola |
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Behind The Front |
Lee Monro |
|
Godzilla Podcast, Edge 96.1 presenter |
Margret Tra |
Maggie Tra |
Stimulated Media |
Matt Boe |
|
Calibre Artist Management |
Matt Gudinski |
|
Illusive/Mushroom |
Maxine Johns |
DJ Ms Hennessey |
Blueprint hip hop show |
Michelle Grace-Hunder |
|
Photographer/Radio Host |
Mohamed Komba |
Mo Mo |
Sony Music Australia |
Mustafa Afraz |
Musti |
Red Bull / Acclaim Contributor |
N’fa Forster-Jones |
N’Fa |
Diploma of Music Industry (Hip Hop) – Box Hill Tafe |
Nadine Marjan |
|
Co-founder of SWS Music |
Nelson John |
J Nelly |
Head of 66 Records |
Nic GidleyKing |
NGK |
HipHopCharts.com.au / MDE |
Nick Lupi |
|
One Dayers |
Nino |
DJ Nino Brown |
|
Peter Stevens |
|
Spotify- Head of Content |
Petrina Convey |
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Sony Music Australia |
Rice Xu |
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Rolling Loud Festival Australia |
Rudy Udovich |
|
Falcona |
Sam Dutch |
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Low Key Source |
Sarah |
K-Sera |
K-Sera & The Dirty Dozen 96.1 FM |
Sasha Chifura |
|
Valve Sounds |
Sean Mullins |
Sean Rae |
A&R Def Jam Australia |
Shantan Parameswaran |
Shantan Wantan Ichiban |
Triple J |
Shelley Liu |
|
Valve Sounds |
Simone Amelia-Jordan |
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Media Consultant |
Sose Fuamoli |
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Music journalist |
Steve Duck |
|
Complex AU |
Tino Charles |
|
Den Of Truth podcast |
Tom Hugget |
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Astral People |
Tom Connellan |
|
Illusive/Mushroom |
Vanderkolk Dameila |
Dameela |
Radio Host (4ZZZ / Triple J) |
Vyvienne Abla |
|
4E Sydney |
Ziggy |
Zig |
Art Management |
Partners
The Acclaim 2020 All-Stars initiative would not be possible without the support of our partners. The Major Presenting partner for the Acclaim 2020 All-Stars is JD Sports Australia

Our Award partners are:
Rookie of the Year – Puma AU

People’s Champ –
MVP –
Award nominee criteria and nominee short-listing has been qualified with the assistance of HipHopCharts.com.au

Prizes
Rookie of the Year
People’s Champ
- Headphones, speaker and earphones courtesy of Beats by Dr. Dre
- Support with the facilitation of international, music industry opportunities and mentorship via Sounds Australia.
- Legal advice/services from one of Australia’s leading law firms specialising in entertainment and media law- Media Arts Lawyer
- A RODE NT2-A condenser microphone
- A feature interview to run on acclaimmag.com in support of the winner’s next release (album or single)
- A custom artist merchandise package courtesy of Super Special
- A digital advertising campaign with acclaimmag.com
- A full day of recording time at Studios 301 For a Sydney-based winner, or if able to travel to Sydney within 12-months: 1 Day Recording Session (10 Hours) in Studio 2 with Engineer & Studio Assistant (or if an interstate winner unable to travel to Sydney: 1 Track Unattended Mix & Master
(valued up to $1309)
MVP
- Headphones, speaker and earphones courtesy of Beats by Dr. Dre
- Legal advice/services from one of Australia’s leading law firms specialising in entertainment and media law- Media Arts Lawyers
- A RODE NT2-A condensor microphone
- A feature interview to run on acclaimmag.com in support of the winner’s next release (album or single)
- A custom artist merchandise package courtesy of Super Special
- A digital advertising campaign with acclaimmag.com
- A full day of recording time at Studios 301 (For a Sydney-based winner, or if able to travel to Sydney within 12-months: 1 Day Recording Session (10 Hours) in Studio 2 with Engineer & Studio Assistant (or if an interstate winner unable to travel to Sydney: Unattended Mix & Master
(valued up to $1309)