Baker Boy’s second studio album, DJANDJAY, is out today, and it’s his most powerful, strongest work yet.
Named after his grandmother and a Yolŋu spiritual figure, the 15-track album features heavyweights such as Briggs, Haiku Hands, Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, and Kee’ahn.
It blends ancestral influences with sharp-edged global production, folding in Yolŋu Matha, English, and Burarra across a dynamic soundscape that spans hip-hop, punk, gospel, and electronic textures.
Baker Boy will be touring in April next year in support of the album, with shows in Newcastle, Sydney, Brisbane, Coolangatta, Barwon Heads, Melbourne, Darwin, and Alice Springs.
But before that, he gave Rolling Stone AU/NZ an exclusive track-by-track rundown of his new album, which you can check out below.
Baker Boy’s DJANDJAY is out now via Island Records and Universal Music.
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“BIGGEST MOB”
“BIGGEST MOB” is for all the Mob. It’s a playful, light-hearted, celebratory track. It uses word plays and references to Scarface and The Godfather to explore all the things I love most about being Mob and our community.
I really wanted a track on the album that was just about celebrating Mob and just bringing us all together. I think having a song that’s for Mob that isn’t political or doesn’t have an agenda, isn’t anything but celebration and Blak joy is really important. The political tracks definitely have their time and place, but yeah, this one is just for us Mob to break it down to.
“PEACEKEEPER”
“PEACEKEEPER” was the first single from DJANDJAY and kind of the first step into this new era of Baker Boy. It’s about brushing off the haters and people’s expectations of how you should be and just protecting your own peace. That idea is something that was really important to me for this album, really owning the direction of the music and the message and not letting other people get into my head or feeling pressured to fit their idea of me and my music.
“KEEP UP”
Keep Up is a playful, flirty moment on the album. The concept stemmed from memories of when I was a kid, and I would dream about being a dancer when I grew up, dancing on stages with the biggest stars like Beyoncé or J.Lo. It then kind of evolved into being about finding your human, finding your equal that challenges you and pushes you and always has your back, but still keeping it fun and light-hearted.
“FREAK OUT” (ft. Briggs, Haiku Hands)
It hits on the very real experiences of being a Yolŋu man in the city and living in the white world. The reality of balanda (non-Yolŋu) people touching my hair, tokenising me, and telling me how to live my life but me taking back that control and being like, “Nah, I’m not putting up with this shit, I’m going to live the way I want to.”
Briggs brings this huge energy again, reinforcing that we’re not going to conform, we’re not going to be a statistic, we’re not going to fit their stereotype… He’s braggy and arrogant but keeps it playful and clever. Then Haiku Hands come in and they have this big feminist boss energy, they’re bold and not holding back, again this idea of like, “Nah, we’re not conforming to what you want us to be, we’re doing what we want and taking ownership.”
“DJAPA” (interlude)
This interlude is from a video in Milingimbi of my late grandmother, Djandjay, and my grandfather, Bob. We were interviewing them back in 2018, and then all of these camp dogs started going mad, barking at something, and my grandpa goes, ‘Some background music…how many dogs are there?’ And it just cracks me up but also just feels like the perfect transition into “MAD DOG”.
Djapa is our dog’s name… He’s a British Bulldog and our everything, so I had to give him his own little moment on the album too.
“MAD DOG”
This track came from a session in LA in 2023 with Pat Morrissey. He had a super cute dog, and I was really missing Djapa while I was away, so the track kind of started out being inspired by Djapa. It then took a turn and played on the idea of me being the ‘Mad Dog,’ stepping up and taking ownership and being proud of where I’ve come from and what I have achieved. It’s about being proud, not letting other people bring me down and just being really solid in who I am, where I came from and where I’m going.
Production-wise, “MAD DOG” really pushes anything I’ve ever done before… It features the Yidaki but in a new and experimental way for me and then leans into this kind of EDM space in the breakdown at the end. I love that it’s tough but playful, and then goes into the dance space… It feels like a journey that just keeps giving.
“RUNNING LOW” (ft. PardyAlone)
“RUNNING LOW” is one of those tracks that just happens so easily… It just kind of came together, and then we got brother man, PardyAlone, on as a feature, and that was it. It has been a favourite amongst my whole team from the start.
This one is a different perspective from what people expect from Baker Boy. “RUNNING LOW” has this sadness — it’s kind of ambiguous, it’s about heartbreak but also about death and grieving in different forms, as well as just being burnt out and feeling low. But then it also takes that grief and loss and has the sense of wanting to do the person you’ve lost proud, which gives it this hopeful feeling.
I always imagine people listening to this while driving, rolling the windows down, feeling the feels, but knowing it’s all going to be okay.
“MALA” (interlude)
“MALA” was adapted from a demo that didn’t feel like the right fit for the album, but it had this verse that really hits on some truths that felt important to include. It plays into the frustrations and experiences of being a Yolŋu man in this country but has this raw kind of emotion to it. We didn’t re-track my vocals, it’s just taken straight from the demo which I think adds to the rawness and emotion of it being freshly written and not over-performed.
“THICK SKIN” (ft. Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee’ahn, Jada Weazel)
I wrote the demo for “THICK SKIN” the day after the Voice to Parliament was voted against. We were in the studio working on the album, but there was this heaviness and darkness, and we decided to use it and put it into a track as a way to process the feeling. We weren’t really focused on it turning into anything for the album, it was just about getting that anger and frustration out so that we could move forward.
While I wanted a Yes vote for Mob, I think the result itself wasn’t what triggered it, I think it was the way Indigenous people became this topic of conversation and mottos like ‘if you don’t know vote no’ allowing and actually even encouraging ignorance. It was a pretty dehumanising experience, the whole campaign and the lead-up to the vote.
While the Voice wasn’t ever going to be a solution, it was always just one piece of the puzzle — it has really highlighted the everyday experience of being Yolŋu, being Indigenous in this country. I don’t know how to explain it but you go through life knowing you’re marginalised, that people are racist, you experience racism, but to have a vote like this that tells you that 60% of the population, of the people around you, the people in the supermarket, down the street, are against you having input into outcomes that affect only you. It’s a f***ed reality.
In terms of production, I had been wanting to explore the punk sound for a while and this felt like the perfect track for me to let loose in that space. It’s not natural for me to express anger through my music. I have this reputation for positivity, but I think the punk-inspired production allowed me to really say what I wanted to say. It has let me express these feelings, express the anger, the chaos, and frustration in a way that’s new and experimental for me but also in a way that was really authentic; it just came out of me.
We were looking for something to take it to the next level and finally came to the idea of adding a Blak Choir. I hit up Thelma, Emma, Kee’ahn, and Jada and yeah, they just took it to the next level. I still get goosebumps every time the choir hits. It’s Blak Power.
“AMALA” (interlude)
“AMALA” is a voice message of my mum, Sabrina, saying she loves me and is proud of me and telling me to keep doing what I’m doing. My family and community are really what keep me strong, keep me inspired, and keep me pushing when I’m feeling down and out. I do everything I do for them, but I definitely couldn’t do it without them.
“LIGHTNING” (ft. REDD.)
Sonically, “LIGHTNING” is a lighter moment on the album; it has this almost pop-style production to it, and it’s bouncy and fun. The hook instantly gets stuck in your head; it’s kind of arrogant, but in a cheeky and playful way.
But underneath it’s about the pressure I feel to be this perfect role model, and how that’s just not always possible. It’s about staying true to myself, blocking out the noise and knowing my worth.
I’m rapping in three languages on this one, which is also crazy: Yolŋu Matha, Burarra, and English.
“MENACE”
“MENACE” came from some sessions with Jacob Farah in early 2023 and it was one of the first times really since I wrote “Cloud 9” that I was just making music for fun… I knew that I was going to start working towards an album in the coming months, but we had a whole bunch of sessions that were pressure-free and just vibing out and really enjoying the process. I think you can kind of hear that I was approaching it from a more relaxed and playful space.
I was kind of starting to explore new sounds and play around with what this next era of Baker Boy was going to sound like, so yeah, I think getting to do that without time pressure or needing to write the next single was a real luxury. It was probably the most relaxed I have ever been in the studio.
I had been wanting to include my mum’s language Burarra in some tracks for a while, so it was the first time really getting to explore that. I think “MENACE” is the perfect halfway point of Gela and DJANDJAY.
“WAR CRY”
I worked on the demo for “WAR CRY” in LA with Gloria Kaba and Jean Deaux back in 2023. The demo was rough but it was on my track list from the get-go. It explores the expectations I feel, the pressure to be an activist, to be a role model, to be the ‘perfect Indigenous person’ that is palatable, speaks up at the right moment, and knows when to keep quiet.
In 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement, I had people, strangers, messaging me asking how and when I was going to speak up publicly about what happened to George Floyd. These same types of messages from strangers came up again during the Voice to Parliament campaign. It was triggering, having Balanda (non-Indigenous) people who see themselves as allies trying to tell me how and when I should speak up for Mob and POC, telling me that I wasn’t doing enough, that I’m only doing what I do for money or fame.
While, I do want to do what I can to educate, change perspectives, keep my language strong, and support the next generation of Indigenous kids in remote communities, both times it was like there was a lack of understanding that these feelings, these experiences are my everyday. I am worried about my family in remote communities where police officers carry weapons and are systemically racist every single day. I personally experience racism often. “WAR CRY” is in response to those experiences, in response to those people, but also an acknowledgement of my own pain and fear that I carry every day.
At the end of “WAR CRY” there’s a recording of my late grandmother, Djandjay, who the album is named after… my cousin sent me a video of her saying, “Danzal, Momu (grandma) here, love you.”
“MUSTARD YELLOW”
“MUSTARD YELLOW” explores the idea of success and impostor syndrome. I think because my career started the way it did, that for a long time, I didn’t have any expectations about where it was going or where it could go. The weirdest thing is the more I had success the less confident I felt in what I was creating. The pressure and the pace of the industry made me feel like maybe I wasn’t enough.
In the last few years since Gela but particularly since I have stepped back from touring to focus on making this album, I have really focused on surrounding myself with good people, working on my mental health, exercising, educating myself, setting boundaries, and putting in the work. I think knowing that I have grown and evolved has helped me feel more solid in my music and direction, the idea of ‘I became a dragon from a caterpillar.’
When we were working on the album, we used this analogy of putting on ‘different outfits’ as a way to push my boundaries and challenge my sound, and I think subconsciously that idea kind of became the base for “MUSTARD YELLOW”… it’s this idea of putting on your sweater almost like an armour and stepping out into the world and knowing your worth and your power.
