In the first of our series on how Aussie successes have happened, we take a closer look at Ninajirachi’s spectacular rise with the release of her long-awaited debut album, I Love My Computer. 

Ninajirachi (or Nina Wilson to her friends and family) emerged from the fertile grounds of triple j Unearthed, being named a finalist in their Unearthed High competition in both 2016 and 2017.

Her debut EP, Lapland, landed in 2019 and she continued a series of releases over COVID, including True North in 2021 – a collaborative EP with Kota Banks which was named as one of the albums of the year by The Atlantic. 

Three further EPs were released, but despite regular and ongoing support from community radio and triple j, streaming figures were stuck under the million mark across the catalogue. Earlier this year though, the momentum shifted as the campaign for her album I Love My Computer kicked in, with the single All I Am hitting in February, ready for what was to be a rapid build. 

In what seems like a perfect record for our time, Wilson reflects back a world lived online. Her connection to gaming and “on the pulse” image has conflated with her continued development as an artist, culminating in an album that has defied expectations to land as one of the biggest Australian albums of 2026. 

The Team

The releases’ team is headed by Wilson’s global manager Matt Downey and NLV Records’ Nina Las Vegas, mentor and label for Ninajirachi since her first EP. The team at Twnty Three provided PR, while local bookings are handled by Edwin Tehrani. 

The Streaming Plot

The February release of All I Am was a success with strong support from triple j and editorial playlisting across some great Spotify lists including me right now, New Dance Beats, Dance Rising, and Equal. The track also had a great showing on Apple Music hitting New Music Daily, Breaking Dance and danceXL among others. 

Off the back of the single’s success, Spotify made her their 2025 EQUAL Ambassador, a key bet on the album’s rollout. The tracks continued, with Fuck My Computer dropping in May, followed by iPod Touch and Infohazard. The singles dropped roughly a month apart with a final focus track It’s You dropping the day before the album. 

For Spotify, the playlisting ramped up with iPod Touch hitting forty new lists showing explosive growth, then the followup Infohazard also landing on international playlists including New Dance 2025. On Apple Music, it was Fuck My Computer that got the biggest bump in playlist action, while unsurprisingly iPod Touch also did well. At album release, London Song became a focus track, with It's You was the secondary pick, with both having a heavy push in the Spotify ecosystem.

Over the last twelve months, streaming growth on Spotify has been huge with 28 million streams globally, Ninajirachi tracks added to 1.5 million Spotify Listener Playlists and supported through 153 Editorial Playlists. The growth in streams across the campaign has been astounding, a combination of editorial support and the songs clearly cutting through in the market.  

Monthly Listeners: 152K → 977K (+543%)

Spotify Followers: 21K → 61.5K (+193%)

Streams (12mo): 4.5M → 19.6M (+336%)

Listeners (12mo): 1.1M → 2.85M (+159%)

Playlist Adds (12mo): 33K → 325K (+885%)

The Media Plot

Media gave I Love My Computer a great run, with some key moments supporting the release and a timeline rollout which pushed the album before, during and after the album release. Rolling Stone announced her in their Future of Music edition in April, right before the release of Fuck My Computer. 

She did an interview with The Age/Sydney Morning Herald the week prior to its release, was Billboard’s Dance Rookie of the Month during album release week, and even scored the coveted Feature Album slot on triple j. The week following the album release, Ninajirachi was The Music’s cover artist with over 150,000 cover impressions across the week. 

The following week, veteran music critic Anthony Fantano’s The Needle Drop also jumped on board with a solid review later in August giving the release another boost, keeping the momentum building. 

Her album release tour then gave another boost in late August with social and review hype before settling in for the next media moment, the ARIA Awards nominations announcement with Wilson emerging as the most-nominated artist. 

The Radio Plot

The radio story really is a triple j one, with the album’s singles all heavily supported by the network. Having a history in the Unearthed High competition, the station has a long history with Ninajirachi and certainly came to the party when it was needed most, spinning her over 650 times since the start of the year. All I Am, Delete, Fuck My Computer and now Infohazard have all had high rotation. 

Community radio has also been generally supportive, with Adelaide’s Fresh FM a heavy supporter along with SYN, FBi, Radio Metro, and RTR. Later in the campaign, Delete has also had nights support from the Hit network, but as yet has not seen day play or any movement from the Nova or Kiis networks. 

Live Plot

Ninajirachi followed her album release with a national tour in late August, with underplay venues selling out around a month before the tour kicked off. 

The smaller venues built hype and scarcity and a trip to the US in September kept the momentum going. A rammed show at SXSW was an opportunity for Aussie fans to reconnect with her straight after her US dates, while news of her inclusion on Coachella 2026 will continue to build the hype locally as fans gear up to see her at Spilt Milk, where she will cap off an incredibly successful year. 

What Comes Next? 

The ARIA Awards could well be the catapult Ninajirachi needs to swim further into the mainstream here at home. With a potentially successful night taking home the silverware, her team will be looking to capitalise on that mainstream boost to get some more action out of commercial radio, while the more mainstream press boost that the ARIAs will bring will also help broaden out the audience. 

As mentioned previously, Spilt Milk will level her up to legendary status with local audiences, while Coachella next year will be a huge US boost.

The album is running out of tracks to release as singles, but with triple j currently smashing what is one of the most accessible tracks on the record right now in Infohazard, a concerted push on that track could have some inroads at radio. 

I Love My Computer was also nominated for, and last week became the 21st winner of, the Australian Music Prize, and of course we’re about to hit peak “best albums of 2025” season, where it would be expected that the record will hit many lists. 

It’s not often that the stars all align, but with Ninajirachi’s debut album, the years of groundwork have finally come together to ignite the spark.

With championing from Spotify, triple j, Rolling Stone, and The Music combining with a perfectly executed live plot, the accolades that are heading her way are not something that can be baked into a plan, but when a great record comes together with a great rollout, then in the case of I Love My Computer, Ninajirachi has made her own luck.