Arnhem Land rapper Danzal Baker making impact on Australian music scene

Danzal Baker saw his school desks as nothing but a stage. The young performer was often chastised and sent to the principal for dancing on them

Rapper Danzal Baker, aka Baker Boy, at the NT Song of the Year awards. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

Danzal Baker saw his school desks as nothing but a stage. The young performer was often chastised and sent to the principal for dancing on them.

But Baker is now staring down much bigger stages, with his first single as Baker Boy, ‘Cloud 9 ft Kian’ making waves across the country

Since its release, Triple J has named him as their Indigenous Unearthed winner, earning him a spot at the National Indigenous Music Awards. He’s also slated to perform at Bigsound, one of the most important music industry events on the calendar, and record labels are crashing his manager’s email servers.

You wanna be as good as me? Boy you better practise / Step back feel the power of my blackness!

The powerful lyrics in ‘Cloud 9’ reflect Baker’s personal journey.

Born in Darwin and raised in the remote NT communities of Milingimbi and Maningrida, Baker grew up with hip hop in his blood.

“When hip hop exploded my dad was loving the vibe and was always blasting music of old hip hop,” Baker said.

“I heard it, I thought ‘that’s amazing’ — it makes me feel high, spirited and free.”

But growing up in a remote indigenous community isn’t an easy life in our rapidly developing world.

While Baker loves nothing more than to go back home, sleep on a sheet under the stars and go hunting and fishing, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for him growing up.

He soon found parallels between his life and the issues his hip hop idols sang about.

“I could relate to the struggles when it comes to community life,” he said.

“There was a lack of communication, a lack of education and also less opportunities — especially when you try and go to the city, and try to work, and some of the places think you’re not worth it and tell you to bugger off.

“Especially for indigenous people — it is hard and we do struggle.”

But his love of the stage eventually took him to Brisbane to study performing arts. That’s where he first met Michael Farah, co-founder of Indigenous Hip Hop Projects (IHHP).

Impressed with Baker’s talent and dedication, Farah called Baker when he was home in Milingimbi, to get him involved with the program.

“Mind you, I had no phone,” Baker said.

“Michael had to call the Milingimbi community and luckily the person who answered was my grandfather.”

Baker’s grandfather put Farah on to his aunt, who then had to figure out where the teenager was.

“My aunty just drove around going crazy and found me fishing with Mum,” Baker said.

“She came up smacking and hugging and kissing me yelling ‘I got good news for you’.

“She kind of scared me!”

Danzel Baker, aka Baker Boy, has been named as the Triple J Unearthed winner.

His aunt told him IHHP had called and he got in touch with Farah. He soon found himself in Melbourne to attend an artist camp.

“I was freaked out,” he said.

“There was cold and hot, and changing weather, I was thinking ‘what is this? This is crazy!’

“Back in Arnhem Land we know our seven seasons and we know when they gonna come, here I don’t know when it was going to hit, it was every day.”

IHHP co-founder Dion Brownfield said they knew early on Baker was a force to be reckoned with — even if he was just a typical 17-year-old at the time.

“Despite the fact he was like a normal teenager — never cleaned up and would eat you out of house and home — he’s very much a dangerous artist because he’s got so many skills; a dancer, actor and he’s got an awesome flow when he raps,” Brownfield said.

Baker works as a mentor at IHHP and has spent the last three years travelling to remote communities to engage with young people through music, dance and art.

The organisation creates tailor-made programs for each community, addressing issues ranging from anti-smoking to suicide prevention, while giving the kids positive role models.

“I know Danzal has changed lots and lots of kids’ lives — he’s committed the last three years of his life and (been) working non-stop around the country,” Brownfield said

“He’s such a beautiful young man, but he’s also really respectful and brings such a strong cultural identity. It’s been really awesome to have him around.”

It was thanks to the guys at IHHP that ‘Cloud 9’ came to be. In their down time the crew introduced Baker to beat boxing and freestyling.

“They asked me to freestyle, I said ‘no no no, I can’t rhyme’,” Baker said.

With English as his third language, following Yolngu Matha and Burarra, spitting out rhymes wasn’t as easy for him as for his counterparts.

But he knew his time would come again, so he prepared for the next opportunity.

“I went back home, sat down, got myself a notebook and wrote down heaps of lyrics — writing, writing, writing — and wrote ‘Cloud 9’,” he said.

“The next time they did it I knew what they were expecting. They said, ‘Danzal, your turn,’ and I went crazy.

“They loved it, then they heard a bit of language and lost it.

“That’s when Dion went crazy and said ‘let’s go to the studio and start recording right now’.”

Despite the fact record labels are beating down his door, when asked what his future goals are, Baker talks about what’s important to his heart — helping other young kids in remote communities.

“Back home in Arnhem Land I’ve never seen anyone come up to us and put us on the right path,” he said.

“Some of the kids get to open up to me and talk. If I’m making them happy and they want to be like me, or do something better because of me, that means I’m doing my job.

“It’s the best feeling and that’s what I’m aiming for with Indigenous Hip Hop Projects.”

Baker said he wants to see indigenous kids break out of their comfort zone, see the world and embrace the opportunities life can offer.

“I want to encourage them to not be scared and not be shamed about who they are or where they come from,” he said.

“The young indigenous kids back home think if they go the city they’ll forget who they are and they get scared of exploring. That’s why I’m trying to show them you’re still going to be making phone calls and talking to your family, you’ve never going to forget.

“Home is going to be home and it’s always going to be there.

“If you feel like you’re starting to lose who you are, you can go back there and freshen up and come back.”

Baker sees himself in some of the kids he works with and recognises the untapped talent in remote communities.

Years after first being sent to the principal’s office, Baker was dancing on the desks professionally with IHHP, staring at the same teacher who sent him to the principal all those years ago.

“She was proud of me,” he said.

Brownfield said it had been an incredible journey watching Danzal grow and his future open up.

“Now he needs to realise there’s a global market,” he said.

“To see him take on New York or Europe, even Asia, for young indigenous people to see him go that far is just as powerful as coming back and spending time on country.

“I think this next phase is going to be very powerful and he’s got an important story to tell.”