Yng Martyr Unloads On What The Australian Music Industry Needs

In just a few short years on the scene, YNG Martyr has soared to become one of the hottest names in Australian hip-hop – so he definitely knows a thing or two about cultivating a solid online (and offline) presence.

In a new interview with Take Flight, the Wiradjuri rapper gave sage advice to up-and-coming artists looking to have a similar breakthrough, imploring them to do as much as they can to spread their art.

He started by pointing out the trend that a lot of Australian artists tend to dwell too much on how they’re perceived in an up-and-coming market: “Out here it’s so easy to get stuck in some arbitrary bullshit of like, you’re trying to do [something] just to impress [a singular] set of people... A lot of these Australian artists, they don’t make Reels, short-form content, they’re afraid of looking like they’re trying or they’re striving for success. Fuck that, bro.”

YNG Martyr went on to explain that in order to have their efforts exposed to new crowds – particularly those outside Australia – artists need to be proactive and “find ways to push your music in unorthodox ways”. He suggested they “think about ways that [people in the general public] consume media and [figure out] how you can merge your music with that”.

He continued: “We need to take it on ourselves to up our fucking marketing game. If you want it to just be heard in Australia, sick, but if you want to do something else, you’ve just got to think of ways to communicate your music to that market. Once you figure it out, do the thing – don’t sit there and go, ‘Aw, I have to make TikToks, bro, I’m such a dweeb.’ Make TikToks about how much you hate TikTok and then rap your verse. Do that – [it] doesn’t fucking matter, just do something to get your music heard out there.”

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YNG Martyr’s presence on TikTok has been particularly lucrative over the past year. And it’s been reflected in his streaming stats: the rapper currently has over 800,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, with some of his most popular  cuts including Nike Ticks (which has racked up more than 80 million plays), Ease Off (nearly 40 million plays) and Molasses (nearly 15 million plays).

Thus far in 2024, YNG Martyr has released the standalone single SUPERBAD, and linked up with PRAX for the cut LUV U. It followed a hectic year of releases in 2023, headlined by his debut album Lovesick. The LP arrived in August on the back of singles like WAIT! (featuring Logan M), 5 Years and As I Should (featuring Allday).”