Oztix | News | The Results Are In: These Are The Artists We Think Shaped 2018

Each year, The Music team and contributors take a deep dive into the year that was, scratch our heads and try to jog our memories for what were our top picks of the year. The votes have been cast, the results have been tallied and 2018's best and brightest can finally be revealed. So far we've shared our Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and the Local & International Live Performances Of The Year. Today comes the Artist Of The Year.

Considering the huge cultural impact of This Is America, of course The Music’s writers voted for Childish Gambino as their Artist Of The Year. On top of that, he released the Summer Pack EP as a digital download, gifting us with two bonafide summertime jams. His cancelled Australian tour was one of the most hyped of the year, and the rescheduled dates abroad are expected to be some of Donald Glover’s last under the Childish Gambino moniker – that fact certainly had punters scrambling to lock down their tickets. Outside of the musical world, Glover starred as Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, all as details continue to emerge about his Guava Island film project, which also features Rihanna.

Then the world’s sassiest, wittiest rapper Cardi B came in hot at #2: while her debut studio album Invasion Of Privacy only came in at #6 on the Albums list, there’s been so much hot tea coming from Cardi B it’s impossible to ignore her this year. After having a very public brawl with fellow rapper Nicki Minaj in September, Cardi let us all in on everything building up to the estrangement care of Instagram Stories, and it only made us like her more – for both her unabashed persona and her slick rhymes. Meanwhile, her appearance back in June on Zach Galifianakis’ Between Two Ferns web series managed to upstage Jerry Seinfeld himself.

Courtney Barnett is the only Aussie in the very top spots, but it only seems right that she be up there after she copped our Album Of The Year title – and have you seen her live shows? Still, she’s joined by four other Aussies to round out the top ten: Amy Shark, Baker Boy, Mojo Juju and Gang Of Youths. Baker Boy and Mojo Juju both could be higher – their music drawing on their Indigenous heritages has been almost explosive, forcing people to sit up and pay attention. Meanwhile, Gang Of Youths are one of the most hard-working bands on the live scene this year, backing up the praise for last year’s Go Farther In Lightness. Amy Shark finally gets the acknowledgement she deserves for her huge ARIA-winning debut Love Monster and will in all likelihood be taking out (if not a top five placing) next year’s Hottest 100.