Finalists Announced For 2017 New Zealand Music Awards

The finalists for this years New Zealand Music Awards have been announce with the trailblazing Aldous Harding and Onehunga hip hop crew SWIDT up for a number of awards.  Other noteworthy finalists include Fazerdaze and Nadia Reid for their recent releases,  hip hop mainstay David Dallas, Alien Weaponry are up for best Maori artist, Leisure for album of the year and of course Lorde is also up for a number of awards and will be performing at the ceremony. 
 
Here is the full list of finalists and note that the 'Urban' term has been dropped after last years controversy and gender based categories have been merged this year. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday 16th November. 

Album of the Year:

Aldous Harding - Party
David Dallas - Hood Country Club
Fazerdaze - Morningside
LEISURE - LEISURE
Lorde - Melodrama
SWIDT - Stoneyhunga

Single of the Year:

David Dallas - Fit In
Ladi6 - Royal Blue
Lorde - Green Light
MAALA - In My Head
SWIDT - Player Of The Day
Theia - Roam

Best Group:

Devilskin - Be Like The River
LEISURE - LEISURE
Shapeshifter - Stars
SWIDT - Stoneyhunga

Best Solo Artist:

Aldous Harding - Party
KINGS - KINGS EP
Lorde - Melodrama
Nadia Reid - Preservation

Breakthrough Artist of the Year:

Aldous Harding - Party
Fazerdaze - Morningside
Nadia Reid - Preservation
TEEKS - The Grapefruit Skies EP

Best Rock Artist:

Clap Clap Riot - Dull Life
Devilskin - Be Like The River
Graham Brazier - Left Turn at Midnite

Best Pop Artist:

Lorde - Melodrama
Mitch James
Theia - Theia

Best Alternative Artist:

Aldous Harding - Party
Fazerdaze - Morningside
Nadia Reid - Preservation

Best Soul/RnB Artist:

Ladi6 - Royal Blue 3000
TEEKS - The Grapefruit Skies EP
Tommy Nee - Colorblind

Best Hip-Hop Artist:

David Dallas - Hood Country Club
KINGS - KINGS EP
SWIDT - Stoneyhunga

Best Roots Artist:

Israel Starr - The Producers Chair, Dancehall Vol. One
Sons of Zion - The Jukebox Suite
Tomorrow People - Lock Me Up

Best Electronic Artist:

Chaos In The CBD
K+Lab - The Worldly's
Truth - Wilderness of Mirrors

Best Māori Artist:

Alien Weaponry
Maisey Rika - TIRA
TEEKS - The Grapefruit Skies EP

People's Choice:

KINGS
Maala
Theia
Lorde
SWIDT

ARTISAN AWARDS 

NZ On Air Best Music Video

Dan Watkins (Reel Factory) – Her (Shapeshifter)
Joel Kefali – Got It Bad (LEISURE)
Sam Kristofski – Lucky Girl (Fazerdaze)

Best Album Cover

Dean Poole & Tyrone Ohia (Alt Group) – ‘Stars’ (Shapeshifter)
Henrietta Harris – ‘Otherness’ (Grayson Gilmour)
Jamie Robertson – ‘String Theory’ (Fly My Pretties)

Massey University Best Producer

Best Engineer

Ben Edwards – ‘Preservation’ (Nadia Reid)
Chris Chetland – ‘A Place to Stand’ (REI)
Clint Murphy – ‘Be Like The River’ (Devilskin)