Music
From fresh prince to a king: Charting the rise of Baker Boy
We sit down with one of Australia's most electrifying hip-hop acts ahead of his biggest headline show yet.
Across from me is Danzal Baker, better known as Baker Boy, the young leader whose path it would seem, was written in destiny. Now a prolific artist expressing his identity and burgeoning artistry through electrifyingly entertaining live shows, you could forgive as sense of egoism to accompany his rapid rise through the ranks of Australian music. However, in entering a conversation with him, you instantly know this not to be true.
Now a prolific artist expressing his identity and burgeoning artistry through electrifyingly entertaining live shows – concurrent with his journey from winning a triple j Unearthed festival competition, to becoming the 2019 Young Australian of The Year – Danzal remains grounded and humble as ever.
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.
Growing up in the Milingimbi and Maningrida communities, the Baker family was integral in the introduction of hip-hop to the Arnhem Land communities. The Baker Boys – a performance unit whose influences ranged from Fred Astaire to hip-hop choreography and New Jack Swing - established a legacy that carries through in Danzal's work.
As the accolades have continued to pile up (having just received three ARIA Award nominations to his name) and as the spotlight focus of the Australian and international industry strengthens in its glare, Baker Boy doesn’t feel the weight of pressure bearing down on him.
The 22-year-old rapper and dancer from Arnhem Land - now based in Melbourne - beams as he reveals his plans to make his headline appearance at Red Bull Music Festival Melbourne one of his biggest and most unique shows yet.
“Now and then, I’m like, ‘This is crazy!’,” he says, reflecting on the whirlwind of success he now calls a career.
“Sometimes there are moments where I finish performing and my brain goes, ‘Wait, how did I just do that?’ your brain just wakes up. It’s weird. It’s like, you’re driving for a kilometre and you go, ‘How did I even do that?’. I’m just like, ‘Wow, okay. I guess it’s all working!’”
Breaking through in 2017 with Cloud9 and Marryuna, showcasing bars in both English and Yolngu Matha, along with impressive dancing chops and having that level of enthusiasm reciprocated by growing crowds, quickly positioned Baker Boy as a completely new type of artist in a hip-hop scene where a sense of all-encompassing identity was properly in flux.
Having learned English between 2007 and 2008, Baker Boy’s quick and talented skills on the mic are testament to his own individual drive to learn and flex the fruits of that learning in a really creative way.
“It’s evolving every time.” he says of his shows and music. “It’s really cool.”
“It’s unique,” he adds. “If it’s from Australia and no one from Australia has heard it before, it’s something brand new to talk about. People want to know more about it. Everyone is curious of anything that is new. I know that for a fact, I do it as well. Something pops up and I’m always trying to listen in to it.”
The pride you can hear in not only Baker Boy’s music, but just in the way he talks about the platform he now has as a performer to be a role model for the young people back home and around the country, is palpable. His personal energy is warm and positive; seldom without a smile on his face, the ‘Fresh New Prince’ of Arnhem Land is constantly working on how to elevate his creative output to the next level.
Working with a talented team of visual and graphic artists, choreographers and dancers, as well as in demand producers like Jerome Farah, has further provided Baker with the tools to solidify his place as one of the most unique artists Australia has produced in some time.
His latest single, In Control, is a perfect example of Baker Boy’s unshakeable optimism in youth embracing their own unique identities and finding the same self-confidence he himself thrives on. Written with ARIA Award winning songwriter/producer and multi-instrumentalist Pip Norman (Tuka, Troye Sivan), the song is about being the best you can be.
“In Control encourages not only kids, but everyone to be brave and confident in taking control of their futures.” he said, upon the song’s release earlier this year.
“No matter what challenges they’re facing or how many times they’ve been knocked back, it’s about having the right mindset and supporting yourself to be the very best version of who you are and to achieve all your dreams, no matter how young or old.”
Thinking back to life before Baker Boy, Danzal notes that there wasn’t much different about the work he was doing in community. The entertainment aspect was still there. The stages were just smaller. Working with kids in remote communities and the inspiring and encouraging nature of that work permeates through his music today.
“I was doing it before I became Baker Boy.” he says.
“I did a lot of dance workshops around remote communities, working with kids, talking about healthy lifestyles and doing a lot of leadership programs. It’s something that I’m comfortable in doing. It’s not much of a weight [on my shoulders], it’s something I enjoy. It’s amazing how kids can learn from music or dance. They learn a lot.”
Speaking of dance, Baker laughs when discussing rehearsals for his biggest headline show yet. Debuting new choreography, new dancers and some special treats in the mix, Baker’s brain is working overtime to ensure that each step is hit in the right time.
I love what I do and it just doesn’t feel like work.
“The dances are challenging me at the moment,” he admits. “It is cool [though], because I love the challenge.”
“It’s something that makes me want to go extra hard. Every time you perform the same dance, it becomes easy, muscle memory. When it’s something tricky and challenging, it makes you go extra wild.”
Joining him on stage for the Red Bull Music Festival are going to be members of his family, some who have never performed in Melbourne before. Ever the guiding presence, Baker is particularly looking forward to throwing his family into the craziness that is now his life.
“My little brother who is performing, it’s going to be his first show in Melbourne.” he enthuses.
“I’m gonna keep pushing him and encourage him to have the confidence, to just have fun.”
“It’s amazing to have the family come down and perform in Melbourne. It’s going to be their first time performing in Melbourne and experiencing what it’s like to be in front of a crowd. I want to show them what I’m going through every time I’m performing.”
The Red Bull Music Festival show is also going to be an opportunity for Baker Boy to debut some new music and show visuals; a tasty indicator of what 2020 holds for him and his crew. Developing his live show to meet the demands of his expanding soundscapes, Baker is excited about how he’s moving in a new live dynamic.
“I’ve got a special guest coming through,” he hints. “I don’t want to name names, I want people to come through and check it out.
“The band’s gotten a bit bigger as well; I’ve got a guitarist, bass player and keys, also some horns. It’s really cool. New songs, new dances and specially for the Red Bull show, I’ve got heaps of dancers. There are girls and a couple of boys, it’s going to be pretty sick.”
He remains mum on exact movements for the early months of 2020, but it’s a safe bet that new Baker Boy music is in the pipeline for release without delay. The process of making, recording and then releasing the music is one that Baker Boy doesn’t see as any type of arduous task. There’s a glint in his eye as he muses on what is to come. We should expect big things.
“I love what I do and it just doesn’t feel like work.” he says.
“It’s really cool. It’s the best when you’re on tour playing festivals, you get to meet other artists and get to know them a lot better. Especially the festivals that have been around for a bit longer, they give you a lot of encouragement and tips to evolve.”
The summer will see Baker Boy performing on the Falls Festival tour, as well as other premier destination festivals including Yours & Owls Festival and December’s Festival of the Sun. While he has remained on the road consistently throughout 2019, he admits home time is always relished and is a crucial element of keeping himself grounded.
“I get ripped [into],” he laughs, thinking about each home visit. “My little cousins are savages and tease the hell out of me! It’s just home. Every time I come home, they rub it in my face a little bit like, ‘Oh you’re famous now, give me some money!’. It’s like, remember I used to buy you dinner? Now it’s your turn!”
And while his being able to rap in both English and Yolngu Mathu was initially an attention grabbing part of Baker Boy’s creative aesthetic, it has now become part and parcel of his artistry – normalised in front of fans who now sing the Yolgnu Matha lyrics of his songs back at him, regardless of if they know the meaning of those words.
“It’s crazy being out here, rapping in language and going back and forth.” Baker admits. However, he’s noticed a resurgence in language that has excited him. The importance of language and maintaining its significance outside community has never been higher. As Baker notes though, it would seem like the tides of change are definitely in effect; whether it be on his stages, or on screens.
“I’ve started seeing a lot of movement in the language as well and a lot of people.” he says.
The moment where you’re dancing and they have a smile on their face, that makes you feel safe and feel at home.
“Every Friday in Darwin, they do a language news. I was watching this news up in Darwin, they were all speaking in Yolngu Matha language and I was like, ‘What?! This is really cool.’ I completely understood what was happening, it was crazy. They show it up in Darwin every Friday in three languages, Kriol, Walpirri and Yolgnu Matha. There’s a couple of people doing the news reporting in language, it’s wild.”
“I’m addicted to the smiles, the love, the happiness that you feel,” he told Red Bull not long ago, opening up about the driving elements of his creativity and performance. “The moment where you’re dancing and they have a smile on their face, that makes you feel safe and feel at home.”
“Also, to have people start rapping to me in my language, even though they don’t understand it. They do it anyway because they love it.”
As this year has proven and as the next few months are already teasing, Baker Boy - like his father and uncles before him - is stepping up and laying a foundation for artistic expression that can be looked up to and also be wickedly entertained by. As we hear more from Baker Boy on record, we hear more from Danzal.
A young artist who, although already more than comfortable in his own skin, is relishing the opportunity to not only share his culture with the masses, but bring a national, spotlight to the traditions and culture he so proudly represents. A spotlight that is definitely not going anywhere anytime soon.
Baker Boy performs at 170 Russell for Red Bull Music Festival Melbourne on Sunday October 20, along with Electric Fields, Rebecca Hatch, and DRMNGNOW. Tickets and details here.
