When triple j recently announced the winners for this year's competition, a young Larrakia hip hop artist with big dreams took out the top place of the competition's Indigenous Initiative.
With his single 'Cold', 17-year-old Rudeboy E has earned comparisons to Migos, the Kid Laroi and Eazy E from the Unearthed judges, including Dave Ruby Howe who said, "Oh hell yes, E! You've just dropped something so fire on us!"
In a media statement, Rudeboy E, real name Eddie Fejo, said music has always been a passion.
"I’ve always loved music. Any genre, but maybe not heavy metal. Rap, hip-hop, gospel, everything! I’ve always looked up to J Cole. One of the best verse spitters out there, he just speaks the truth," he said.
Coming from a family of artists, Fejo hopes to follow in their footsteps and to make a mark on the world as a representative of his close-knit community.
"Palmerston is a good place because everyone knows each other," he said.
"All your family and friends are around. We’re all artists. My Dad’s an artist, my sister, and my mum’s a deadly black woman, a poet.
Felo said he also aimed to use his art to inspire young Palmerston locals to follow positive pathways and avoid making bad choices.
"Twenty years down the track, I want to be a successful rapper, maybe even a businessman," he said.
"Have a good house, a good stable family. That’s it. Stay in contact with my family."
As part of his Unearthed prize, Felo will receive ongoing mentorship from the Association of Artist Managers, as well as a songwriting workshop run by the APRA AMCOS Songmakers program.
In recent years, winners of triple j's Unearthed program, including and , have emerged to make their mark on the music industry.
