James Iheakanwa, known professionally as B Wise, is a Nigerian Australian artist from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales. He released his debut album ''Area Famous'' in 2018 via the label Elefant Tracks.

Biography

Iheakanwa was born and raised in

Liverpool, New South Wales Liverpool is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately south-west of the Sydney CBD. Liverpool is the administrative seat of the local government area of the City of Liverp ...

, the son of a Nigerian social worker and entrepreneur father and an Australian nurse and maternal support worker mother. The eldest of three children, Iheakanwa spent six months in Nigeria with his father when he was 12 years old, where he discovered hip-hop influences such as

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...

, but he was shaped by life in the southwest suburbs. In July 2022, B Wise formed the group BBGB with BLESSED,

Manu Crooks Emmanuel Adu, better known by his stage name Manu Crooks, is a Ghanaian-Australian rapper based in Sydney. Biography Emmanuel Adu grew up in Ghana and moved to Australia when he was 12 years old where he attended Parramatta High School. He f ...

Kwame Kwame is an Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (such as the Ashanti and Fante) in Ghana which is given to a boy born on Saturday. Traditionally in Ghana, a child would receive their Akan day name during their Outdooring, eight da ...

and Lil Spacely. BBGB released their debut single "Tough Love" on 15 July 2022.

Advocacy

Alongside musicians Jack River and

Ebony Boadu Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station that has been broadcasting since 1975. The following is a list of radio presenters on the station. Current presenters Past presenters (1994 onwards) Presenters (1975–1994) ...

, Iheakanwa was a

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

speaker at the 2019 Conference for Young People in Sydney, in which he shared his experiences of how he got his start in the

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Notes

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's independent music sector. ! , - ! scope="row",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, ''Area Famous'' , Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Album , ,

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982. ! , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, "Ezinna" by B Wise, Sampa The Great & Milan Ring (Nicholas Martin, Milan Ring, Sampa Tembo, Tung Yeng, James Iheakanwa) , Song of the Year , , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual ceremony presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , '' jamie'' , ,

ARIA Award for Best Hip Hop Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Hip Hop Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording ...

, , , , -

References

External links

* Australian male rappers Australian musicians Australian record producers Living people Musicians from Sydney Rappers from Sydney Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-musician-stub