Music
10 things you need to know about Baker Boy
Before he performs as part of Red Bull Music Motel -- a one of a kind live music getaway happening on December 5 -- get to know hip-hop hero Baker Boy a little better.
Most of Australia’s biggest hip-hop acts right now hail from the city. Most, but not all.
Baker Boy -- AKA 24-year-old Danzal Baker -- grew up in two remote communities in Arnhem Land. A natural talent for the performing arts saw him move to Townsville and then Brisbane, where he studied and worked as a dancer. Before long he turned his attention to rap, a field he’s dominated right from the get go.
In just a few years, Danzal has become one of Australia’s best-loved artists. It’s not just his incredible talent that’s won Baker Boy fans but also his positive attitude and dedication to uplifting Yolngu culture.
This December, Baker Boy will bring his powerful performance skills to Red Bull Music Motel, a very special live music getaway. From the comfort of your home, Red Bull Music Motel will give you a front-row seat to performances from Baker Boy as well as Tkay Maidza and G Flip. It all streams live from 6pm on Saturday December 5, hosted by Linda Marigliano and The Inspired Unemployed.
To be there, you just have to RSVP. But while we wait for Red Bull Music Motel to roll around, read on to get to know a little more about Baker Boy.
#1 He’s the Fresh Prince of Arnhem Land
Baker Boy grew up in Arnhem Land, a region in the northeast corner of the Northern Territory. He spent his younger years between two remote communities there, Milingimbi and Maningrida.
Danzal rapped about his very special hometowns in the 64 Bars he did for Red Bull last year, weaving rhymes about the fresh coconut, mango trees and saltwater breeze of his childhood.
#2 He was a dancer before he started rapping
Before Baker Boy stepped into the recording studio, he was a dancer who travelled Australia with the Indigenous Hip Hop Projects. It was there he met fellow rapper Dallas Woods, who became a big brother figure to him and, later, a musical collaborator.
#3 He raps in both English and Yolngu Matha
In many of his songs -- ‘In Control’, ‘Meditjin’ and ‘Cool As Hell’ among them -- Baker Boy raps in Yolngu Matha, his first language, as well as English.
It’s important to Danzal to promote Indigenous language. “I heard rapping in Spanish and I’m like ‘That’s sick’. Rapping [in Yolngu Matha] is totally different, it changes the beat. The pronunciations, the sounds, there are different flows,” he told LNWY.
“When I speak in language I’m crazy fluent. It’s easier for me to write songs in language than in English.”
#4 His first single was ‘Cloud 9’
In 2017, at age 20, Baker Boy arrived in a big way with ‘Cloud 9’.
The track saw him crack the triple j Hottest 100, win the triple j Unearthed National Indigenous Music Awards competition and take out the prize for NT Song of the Year. It was his first big hit but definitely not his last.
#5 Some of his songs feature the yidaki
“I'm a proud black Yolngu boy with the killer flow/ Listen to the yidaki, listen to it blow,” Baker Boy raps on his track ‘Marryuna’.
True to his words, on both ‘Marryuna’ and ‘Meditjin’ the sounds of the yidaki -- also known as the didgeridoo -- can be heard. It’s a fitting choice of instrument for Baker Boy: the yidaki originated from Yolngu people of Arnhem Land.
#6 He collaborated with Dallas Woods on ‘Black Magic’
Baker Boy and Dallas Woods have a long history. The pair toured together with the Indigenous Hip Hop Projects, where Dallas took a young Danzal under his wing. Dallas now credits Danzal with inspiring him to start a rap career of his own, and he also regularly tours with the Baker Boy live show.
In 2018 the pair released an official collaboration in the Blak empowerment anthem ‘Black Magic’.
#7 He remixed Yothu Yindi’s ‘Treaty’
‘Treaty’ is a stone cold Australian classic and a song with an important history.
In 1991, it became the first track by a predominantly Indigenous band to chart in Australia, and even charted in the US. Vitally, it did this as a protest song written to highlight the lack of progress on the treaty between Aboriginal Australians and the federal government.
‘Treaty’ is sung in Gumatj, a dialect of Yolngu Matha. So it made perfect sense for Baker Boy to remix the song, as part of a 25th anniversary collection of Yothu Yindi tracks.
#8 He was named Young Australian of the Year in 2019
At age 22, Baker Boy achieved his biggest feat yet when he was named Young Australian of the Year.
It was a huge moment for all of Arnhem Land. “I see this as an important moment not just for me but for my people,” Danzal said in his acceptance speech, which he delivered in both English and Yolngu Matha.
Baker Boy
© Aurie Indianna
#9 The clip for his song ‘Meditijin’ was filmed in the National Gallery of Victoria
It felt like a hat tip to Beyonce and Jay Z when Baker Boy and Auckland’s Jess B filmed the video for their collaboration ‘Meditijin’ inside the National Gallery of Victoria.
‘Meditjin’ -- which means ‘medicine’ in Yolngu Matha -- saw Baker Boy and a troupe of backup dancers cut shapes in front of some of Australia’s most famous artworks. Very cool.
#10 He made his acting debut in The Nightingale
He doesn’t only rap and dance -- in 2018, Baker Boy had a cameo appearance in the Jennifer Kent film The Nightingale.
That movie also saw Baykali Ganambarr, a dancer from Arnhem Land who performed in the same troupe as Danzal, win the prestigious Best New Talent Award at the Venice Film Festival. “It was really cool to see family do the acting,” Danzal told Red Bull.
It’s not the only on-screen appearance Danzal has made: a year later he had an acting role in The True History of the Kelly Gang.
Baker Boy is performing at Red Bull Music Motel, which streams live from 6pm on Saturday December 5. For your front row seat, RSVP now.
