It’s one thing to be an Indigenous Australian rapper (see our profile on Briggs for another prime example) but it’s another thing to integrate your local dialect into your rhymes.
Baker Boy (or Danzal Baker) to his mates, integrates his native Yolŋu Matha language seamlessly besides English lyrics in his songs, making for brilliantly catchy, chest beating, cross cultural sound.
Baker Boy isn’t afraid to use traditional Australian musical elements (such as traditional drum patterns and didgeridoo) with modern and retro hip hop sounds. Marruyna has a beat ripped straight from a Beastie Boys track, while Cool as Hell has the soulful vibe of something from Leon Bridges or the Roots.
Two of his songs made their way into Triple J’s annual Hottest 100 poll (with Marryuna at 77 and Cloud 9 at number 17) – not bad for an artist who has only seven songs to his name at time of writing!
While there’s no word on an album yet, Aussie hip hop fans are hoping this deadly artist brings even more of his fresh approach to hip hop to even wider audiences.
Baker Boy will be playing the Dusk Til Dawn stage as part of Utopia at the RCC Adelaide Fringe.
Tickets for the RCC Adelaide Fringe are available now through FringeTix.
