| ARIA Award for Best Soul/R&B Release | |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Presented by | Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) |
| First award | 2019 |
| Currently held by | Barkaa, Big Tidda (2025) |
| Most wins | Genesis Owusu and Sampa the Great (2 each) |
| Most nominations | The Kid Laroi (5) |
| Website | ariaawards |
The ARIA Music Award for Best Hip Hop Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", [1] since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an organisation whose aim is "to advance the interests of the Australian record industry." [2] A previous category, Best Urban Release, was split into Best Soul/R&B Release and Best Hip Hop Release, which were first presented in 2019. [3] [4] [5]
To be eligible, the work must be within the hip-hop genre. The nominated release must qualify for inclusion in the ARIA Album Chart, and cannot be entered in any other genre categories. The accolade is voted for by a judging school, which comprises between 40 and 100 members of representatives experienced in this genre, and is given to an artist who is either from Australia or an Australian resident. [6] The award for Best Hip Hop Release was first presented to Sampa the Great for the single, "Final Form". [3]
As of 2026, Genesis Owusu and Sampa the Great are the only artists with multiple wins; both artists won both their nominations, with Sampa the Great winning in consecutive years. The Kid Laroi has the most nominations with five, though he has never won. Three non-Australian artists have been nominated as featured or co-lead artists; American rapper JPEGMafia for "Awake" with Tkay Maidza in 2019, New Zealand rapper JessB for "Meditjin" with Baker Boy in 2020 and American rapper Fivio Foreign for "Paris to Tokyo" with The Kid Laroi in 2022.
In the following table, the winner is highlighted in a separate colour, and in boldface; the nominees are those that are not highlighted or in boldface.