Miss Kaninna
Miss Kaninna | Credit: Luke Costelloe

The Top 50 Australian Songs of 2023

It’s been another big year of releases from Australian, Australia-based and First Nations artists. In this list of our 50 favourites of the year, we’ve tried to capture the various movements and innovations that provided the soundtrack to 2023. In top spot is ‘Blak Britney’, a knockout blow of hip hop and personality by Yorta Yorta, Djadja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali woman Miss Kaninna.

It’s joined near the top of the list by Teether & Kuya Neil’s grimey alt-rap song ‘CYA’ featuring ZK king 劉, the ambient techno of Sleep D’s ‘Punch Drunk’ featuring YL Hooi, and the reggae-rock protest song ‘Take No More’ by Kee’ahn and Emma Donovan.

‘Blak Britney’ – Miss Kaninna’s debut single – is a prime illustration of how the personal is political. Over a lean, upbeat groove that sounds like turn-of-the-2000s Neptunes, Kaninna voices her disgust at Australia’s ongoing colonial violence. ‘Blak Britney’ is a fuck you to invaders, “land takers” and “treaty breakers”, but ultimately, it’s a song of resistance. “I’m a deadly bitch,” goes the chorus. “A Black Britney Spears.”

 Revisit Our 50 Favourite Australian Songs of 2022

The Top 50 Australian Songs of 2023

  1. Miss Kaninna – Blak Britney
  2. Teether & Kuya Neil – CYA (feat. ZK king 劉)
  3. Sleep D – Punch Drunk (feat. YL Hooi)
  4. Kee’ahn & Emma Donovan – Take No More
  5. POOKIE & Kuzich – FEEL IT IN THE BLACK
  6. Yirinda – Thurum Voi (Look There)
  7. ZK king 劉 – Heart throbs
  8. Keanu Nelson – Kutjupa Tjuta
  9. Sevy – Whats the Move
  10. Naretha Williams – Into Dusk We Fall
  11. Ripple Effect Band – Loving and Caring
  12. EXEK – Welcome to my Alibi
  13. 700 Feel – 5D Dub
  14. Polito – Fortune Teller
  15. rocky – Nothing Tuesday
  16. Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 & Tim Shiel – Mirror Flower 镜花水月
  17. RVG – Midnight Sun
  18. Ella Thompson – To Light The Lantern
  19. Maggie Tra – Hanoi Ói
  20. J. McFarlane’s Reality Guest – Youtube Trip
  21. YL Hooi – Glitch Clarry Ditty
  22. Hubcaps – Beside(s) Me
  23. Jennifer Loveless – Pleasure (Original Vox Mix)
  24. Vv Pete – Frauds (DJ Plead Remix)
  25. Ryan Fennis & Voidhood – AETHERNET
  26. 1300 – Lalaland
  27. Elizabeth – Love Is the Easiest Salvation
  28. Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 & Sui Zhen – 气 | Chi | Energy
  29. REBEL YELL – Kombat
  30. Izy – Close the Door
  31. Gold Fang – Badness Issa Habit
  32. RONA. – Aperleye
  33. Immy Owusu – The World Is Here For You
  34. Baby Cool – Daydream
  35. Mo’Ju – Money
  36. DJ PGZ – Quality High
  37. Eternal Dust – Candy
  38. Jen Cloher – Mana Takatāpui
  39. Divide and Dissolve – Want
  40. Barkaa – Division
  41. Elle Shimada – MONONOKE (feat. Jamahl Yami)
  42. Gut Health – Juvenile Retention
  43. Terry – Gold Duck
  44. Surprise Chef – Rosemary Hemphill
  45. Kootsie Don – Lemme Know
  46. Cash Savage and the Last Drinks – $600 Short On the Rent
  47. Picked Last – NO CLUE
  48. Charlie Hill – Orleigh Sun
  49. Unsolicited Joints – Joint 1
  50. BAYANG (tha Bushranger) – Antarctica (feat. FRIDAY*, TT)

Further Reading

Miss Kaninna: “It’s a Privilege to Listen to Black People’s Stories”

ZK king 劉: “This Record Felt Nostalgic Even Before I Had Finished Making It”

REBEL YELL and Her Collaborators on the Themes and Experiences at the Core of ‘DESOLATION’

We’re All Stupefied Oil Gobblers in the Video for EXEK’s ‘Welcome to my Alibi’

Elizabeth: The Songs, Words, Treasures and Images that Inspired ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’

Ella Thompson Goes Giallo on 70s Slow-Burner ‘To Light The Lantern’

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