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Forget about Cloud 9. The sky's the limit for Yolngu rapper Baker Boy, who has had a year beyond his wildest dreams — with two songs cracking triple j's Hottest 100.
Danzel Baker, aka Baker Boy, 21, burst onto the music scene in May with his first single, Cloud 9, which hit 76 in the Hottest 100. His follow-up track, Marryuna, reached 17.
Born and raised in the remote Top End communities of Milingimbi and Maningrida, the now Melbourne-based Baker Boy takes his name from the dance duo formed by both his father and uncle Jeremiah in the 1980s, The Baker Boys.
His uncle Jeremiah said Danzel was achieving things they'd only dreamed of.
"Back in the community — this is the late 80s — there was no social media of course, there was no television, all we had was a VHS player, video, very old school," Jeremiah Baker told ABC Radio Darwin on Wednesday.
He said that one night he and his brother were searching through their father's cupboard looking for John Wayne movies when a video cover featuring a glamorous couple caught their eye: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
"Once we watched Fred [and Ginger] do their magic that was it, we just got really into dancing," Mr Baker said.
"All we did was traditional dancing, that's corroboree, through our ceremonies and cultural obligations.
"We didn't do no rehearsals or anything; we had the steps, we had the moves, and a lot of the moves we had and what we did with our feet and arms and body was more into traditional Indigenous cultural dancing.
"So when we saw Fred Astaire do his thing, we just thought that we might infuse them both, just to come up with a brand new style, and that's where the trademark of Baker Boys came from."
Overwhelmed with pride
That fusion dance style has influenced Baker Boy, and the Djuki Mala dance troupe he toured with.
Danzel featured his father and uncle in the video clip for Marryuna, which means "let's dance" in Yolngu Matha.
Mr Baker said he'd lost time of how often he'd watched the clip since it was released last week.
"I probably speak for half of north-east Arnhem land: every time the song plays we are nodding our head, dancing, and if we are not moving, we are dancing on the inside, hence the name of the song," he said.
"Nobody likes seeing themselves or listening to their voices when they're on air, or any recording, so I was afraid of seeing myself… but the overwhelming feeling was being proud of my nephew."
Photo:
Baker Boy aka Danzel Baker will support 50 Cent on his Australian tour. (Supplied: Baker Boy)
Baker Boy to support 50 Cent
Baker Boy faces an even bigger year in 2018, supporting American rapper 50 Cent alongside A.B. Original during shows in Sydney and Melbourne in February.
"That's insane," he told triple j's Ben and Liam after hearing Marryuna get voted in at 17 in the Hottest 100 last weekend.
"I'd be happy if it was just one of the songs… but two songs!?"
The entry makes Baker Boy the second-highest ever ranking Indigenous artist in the Hottest 100's history, after A.B. Original's January 26 hitting number 16 in 2016.
It was also the first song performed in an Indigenous language to crack the top 20.
Topics: music, arts-and-entertainment, indigenous-music, music-industry, milingimbi-0822, nt, darwin-0800
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