The Songman Who Came Back Stronger

There are artists who perform. And then there are artists who carry something — an obligation to the ancestors, to the living, to the ones not yet born. Jungaji is the latter. Born Troy Brady in Inala, Brisbane, he first appeared on the Australian music scene in the early 1990s as a teenager with Aim 4 More — the group that brought Motown and Boyz II Men-influenced R&B to First Nations audiences and became a cultural touchstone for a generation growing up in Brisbane's southwest. Three decades, two heart attacks, two strokes, multiple open-heart surgeries, and a profound cultural reawakening later, he emerges as Jungaji — a name meaning rock, strength, and knowledge — and the music has never felt more essential. His debut solo album Betting on Blak, launched at Brisbane Powerhouse, is exactly what the title promises — a full-throated bet on First Nations culture, storytelling, and identity at a time when the world is finally paying attention. Fusing soul, R&B and roots music with songs in Gugu Yalanji language, it earned a Queensland Music Award for Gummy Bamarra and announced a new chapter for one of Brisbane's most significant musical figures. One of only a small group of fluent Gugu Yalanji speakers remaining, Jungaji understands what's at stake. His songs aren't just music — they're documentation. Ancient songlines and stories preserved in sound, passed forward through the only technology that has ever really worked: the human voice. He is also Chair of the Dhadjowa Foundation, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families who have lost loved ones in custody. His advocacy, his art, and his cultural practice are not separate things. They are the same thing expressed differently. Jungaji performs with a band, runs songwriting workshops, works with youth, and continues recording. He is a Brisbane artist in the deepest sense — rooted in this country, shaped by this city, speaking to anyone willing to listen.