For one long moment on Sunday night, Yung Milla just stood there, letting it sink in. Sonia Kruger had just spoken his name as the winner of The Voice Australia 2026, and the young Marranunggu rapper from Darwin looked stunned. Behind him was the grand final stage, and in front of him a future that had just changed in the space of a single announcement. After weeks of performing on national television, he had done something no one had done in fifteen seasons of the show: he became the first rapper ever to win The Voice Australia.
A First for The Voice
The grand final aired on Sunday, September 27, 2026 on Channel 7 and 7plus, with Sonia Kruger hosting. The show has crowned singers from many styles over its fifteen seasons, but never a rapper — until now.
Yung Milla, whose real name is Levi Nichaloff, comes from Darwin and Palmerston in the Northern Territory, and he carried his Marranunggu heritage with him every time he stepped on stage. He was part of Melanie C’s team.
His run began back in the blind auditions in August, when he performed “All My Life,” an original song written by his brother, J-Milla. The performance turned all four coaches’ chairs: Melanie C, Ronan Keating, Richard Marx and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Down Under, His Way
The moment that made everyone sit up came in the semifinal. Yung Milla reworked Men at Work’s “Down Under,” pairing the familiar song with the sound of the yidaki, a choir and his own rap verses about struggle and identity.
The performance drew 2.2 million views on Instagram, and afterward his mother, Kylie, surprised him on stage. The official clip of the performance said it all: the semifinal “left the coaches speechless.”
The Grand Final
On grand final night, Yung Milla opened with a solo performance of 2Pac’s “Changes,” then duetted with his coach Melanie C on “Never Be The Same Again,” rapping Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’ verse.
When the public vote was counted, he finished on top ahead of fellow finalists Daisha Auda, The 60Four and Tommy Novak. The prize was $100,000 plus an all-inclusive recording and development package — but the moment itself was clearly worth more than either.
For a competition that has long been a launchpad for pop and soul voices, seeing a rapper from the Northern Territory hold the center of the stage was something new. And the audience, it turned out, was ready for it.
For His People
Melanie C, who had guided him through the competition, was emotional as the result sank in. “I think I’ve run out of words. You know you’ve affected me… I’m just so proud. You did this!” she said.
Yung Milla himself could barely believe it. “I just can’t believe it. I’m just so grateful… I’m doing it for my people,” he said.
He has spoken candidly about his backstory, including what he described as a “rough household” with domestic violence, alcohol and drugs, and he credits his mother, Kylie Miller — known as “Mother Miller” — as his rock. Away from music, he works as a support worker and mentor at the Darwin youth hub Aunties Place. The win, he has made clear, was never only about him.
Not long after the win, Yung Milla was already talking about what comes next: he plans to build a music studio in Darwin for local kids, a place where young people can write, record and be heard. It is the kind of promise that turns a victory into something that keeps giving, long after the lights go down.
For now, the title belongs to him and to the people he kept mentioning whenever a microphone was placed in front of him. A rapper from Darwin walked into the grand final of The Voice Australia, and he walked out with the win, a place in the show’s history, and a plan to bring the music home.
