21 year old Danzel Baker aka Baker Boy is the first Indigenous artist to find mainstream success in Yolŋu Matha. Yolŋu Matha is one of the languages of the Yolngu (Yolŋu, Yuulngu), the indigenous people of northeast Arnhem Land in northern Australia. The “ŋ” in Yolŋu is pronounced as the “ng” in “singing”.

https://instagram.com/p/BXRh64anI2N/

Baker Boy won the Triple J Unearthed National Indigenous Music Awards competition last year, and his two singles reached number 17 (“Marryuna”) and 76 (“Cloud 9”) in the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown last weekend.

In an interview with indaily.com, Baker Boy talked about his influences and how hip hop impacted his culture:

“Growing up with my dad and uncles, they all started dancing back in the ’80s to hip-hop music and they kind of influenced me.

“Hanging around them so much got me that feeling of falling in love with hip-hop and what it meant to all people from America – African-Americans, in particular.

“It’s an amazing culture that involves all different art forms and performances… making music, freedom of speech, poetry… and that’s why I fell in love with it; it’s got a message behind the song, it’s got what it meant to that person.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=dxjFNvwZUhA

He also talked about the importance of rapping in Yolngu Matha language representing his Arnhem Land bloodlines.:

“I rap in Yolngu Matha because there’s young kids at home that don’t really understand English as much as Yolngu Matha. I rap in English and English speakers understand what I’m saying.

“There’s a lot of people who came up to me and said, ‘Do you have lyrics and where is this Yolngu Matha dictionary? I want to learn this language’, and when I heard that it made me feel proud that I actually changed the way they feel and see things.

“It keeps the language strong and continues it for the next generation to learn it and keep it going.”

In Arnhem Land they call Baker Boy the ‘fresh new prince’. His totem is the Olive Python, his moiety is Dhuwa and his skin is Burralung/Gela boy.

Born in Darwin and raised in the remote NT communities Yurrwi [formerly known as Milingimbi and Maningrida]

He is the freshest new Yolngu hip-hop talent from the Top End. Baker Boy is known as a multi-talented artist, working across rap, dance, acting and graffiti, and he hopes to inspire younger generations to embrace their culture and become leaders in their communities.