Aotearoa Music Awards for Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist
# Aotearoa Music Awards for Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist

Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist are two Aotearoa Music Awards that honour New Zealand music artists for outstanding recordings of the genres of hip hop, and soul or R&B. The award was first awarded in 2002 as Best R&B/Hip Hop Album, and in 2003 it was called Best Urban Album. In 2004 it moved to Best Urban/Hip Hop Album. In 2017 the award was split into two separate awards: Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist. The entry criteria were also changed to require either an album or a minimum of five single releases in the eligibility period.

## Controversy

In 2016, the award was presented to Aaradhna her album Brown Girl. She refused to accept the award, saying she felt the inclusion of both R&B music and hip hop in the same "urban" category was due to racial stereotyping and that she felt as a pop/R&B artist, she shouldn't be in the same category as hip hop acts. Aaradhna informally awarded the Tui to fellow nominee SWIDT for their album SmokeyGotBeatz Presents SWIDT vs EVERYBODY. Recorded Music NZ still lists Aaradhna as the winner of the category.

Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan responded to the incident, saying that "urban" was an industry term used by New Zealand radio, but that the Urban/Hip Hop category would be reevaluated before the 2017 awards. As a result, the Best Urban/Hip Hop Album category was reevaluated ahead of the 2017 New Zealand Music Awards. The award was split into two genre categories: Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist.

## Recipients

### Best R&B/Hip Hop Album (2002)

| Year | Winner | Album | Other finalists | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2002 | Che Fu | Navigator | Dark Tower – Canterbury Drafts | |

### Best Urban Album (2003)

| Year | Winner | Album | Other finalists | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2003 | Nesian Mystik | Polysaturated | Deceptikonz – Elimination P-Money – Big Things | |

### Best Urban/Hip Hop Album (2004 to 2016)

| Year | Winner | Album | Other finalists |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | Scribe | The Crusader | King Kapisi – 2nd Round Testament Mareko – White Sunday |
| 2005 | P-Money | Magic City | Tha Feelstyle – Break It To Pieces Savage – Moonshine |
| 2006 | Frontline | Borrowed Time | Nesian Mystik – Freshmen Opensouls – Kaleidoscope |
| 2007 | PNC | Rookie Card | 4 Corners – The Foundations Deceptikonz – Heavy Rotation |
| 2008 | Scribe | Rhyme Book | Mareko – White Sunday 2: The Book Of Mark Young Sid – The Truth |
| 2009 | Ladi6 | Time Is Not Much | Savage – Savage Island Smashproof – The Weekend |
| 2010 | David Dallas | Something Awesome | J. Williams – Young Love Young Sid – What Doesn't Kill Me... |
| 2011 | Ladi6 | The Liberation Of... | David Dallas – The Rose Tint PNC – Man on Wire |
| 2012 | Home Brew | Home Brew | Adeaze – Rise & Shine Savage – Mayhem & Miracles |
| 2013 | Aaradhna | Treble & Reverb | At Peace – Girl Songs P-Money – Gratitude |
| 2014 | David Dallas | Falling Into Place | Ladi6 - Automatic PNC - The Codes |
| 2015 | Janine and the Mixtape | XX | Diaz Grimm – Osiris The Doqument– Black Canvas – Wall & Piece |
| 2016 | Aaradhna | Brown Girl | SWIDT – SmokeyGotBeatz Presents SWIDT vs EVERYBODY PNC – The Luke Vailima EP |

* ↑ While the 2016 award was formally awarded to Aaradhna for Brown Girl, she refused to accept it and informally presented it to fellow nominee SWIDT. "Aaradhna claims racism, gives away Tui at NZ Music Awards". NZ Herald. NZME. Retrieved 17 November 2016.

### Best Hip Hop Artist (2017 to current)

| Year | Winner | Other finalists | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2017 | SWIDT | David Dallas Kings SWIDT | |

### Best Soul/RnB Artist (2017 to current)

| Year | Winner | Other finalists | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2017 | TBA | Ladi6 Teeks Tommy Nee | |
