The title of Baker Boy’s second album has links to both his family and ancestors. The record shares its name with his late grandmother, “the matriarch in the family,” who years ago returned from her honeymoon in Hawaii with a collection of hip-hop records. “She basically introduced hip-hop in Arnhem Land,” Baker Boy—aka Yolŋu rapper Danzal Baker—tells Apple Music. “And I’ve kind of inherited her boisterous energy, and the whole positive, telling people not to be shame and to go out and be loud and proud and enjoy dance and music. Naming this album after her is my way of thanking her.” In First Nations culture, Djandjay is also the name of a spiritual being that takes the form of an octopus, its tentacles guiding souls to the afterlife. “I want this album to be like the spiritual figure with all the tracks taking everyone’s soul to this other dimension of Baker Boy’s life and music,” explains the rapper. His quest to expose “this other dimension” was a guiding force when creating DJANDJAY. While his 2021 debut Gela was overflowing with positivity and party vibes, he wanted his second album to display more vulnerability, a desire he fulfills when tackling issues of racism (“WAR CRY”) or the loss of family members and separation from Country (“RUNNING LOW”). One carryover from Gela—in addition to its mix of high-energy hip-hop and beats—is Baker Boy’s desire to share culture. He incorporates a traditional Yolŋu songline into “WAR CRY,” and raps in his trademark mix of English and Yolŋu Matha throughout the album, while also adding his mother’s ancestral language Burarra into the mix. “I wanted to represent the two sides of the family,” he explains. Here, the singer takes Apple Music through DJANDJAY, track by track. “BIGGEST MOB” “You’ve gotta start with the party vibes. Also the title, ‘BIGGEST MOB,’ not only representing the older mob, but trying to explain to people that don’t know what biggest mob is. It’s hilarious because they would think I’m talking about the Mafia mob. So I did some play on words, like fun, cheeky, and clever lyricism of being back home but having The Godfather references, which is so fun.” “PEACEKEEPER” “In ‘PEACEKEEPER’ there’s Yolŋu Matha and English and Spanish. This one was more kind of brushing off the haters and being like the peacekeeper—I’m just not going to get onto your level. I’m going to keep my peace, protecting myself and protecting my vibe so I can have a good time.” “KEEP UP” “‘KEEP UP’ was inspired by J.Lo, Jennifer Lopez. Growing up back in the community, Jennifer Lopez was the music in the house for quite a while. One of my aunties always blasted her music, and her name’s Jennifer. But also, I’m talking about memories. [It’s] showing off the new evolved sound of Baker Boy, but still giving that same Baker Boy feel from the last record.” “FREAK OUT” (with Briggs, Haiku Hands) “We were just having fun and thought, ‘We should reach out to some features.’ So we reached out to Haiku Hands and they said, ‘Yeah, awesome, we’ll do it.’ And then Briggs comes in, just smashed a second verse that was absolutely monster. It’s just about not letting people tell you what to do, and the racism that we face as Indigenous people. Regardless of that racism, we’re just going to do what we want. But then also having Haiku Hands showing the strong, bold, feminist vibes and the boss energy.” “DJAPA (INTERLUDE)” “‘DJAPA’ is the audio recording of an interview that one of my videographers did when we went filming my doco in the community. We filmed my late grandmother and my grandfather sitting together, and we’re talking and asking questions. And then our neighbor’s dogs started barking and it was getting hectic. You can hear my grandfather saying, ‘How many dogs are there?’ Which is so funny, because then it goes into ‘MAD DOG.’” “MAD DOG” “It’s got that EDM vibe with the yidaki, the didgeridoo, and it’s such a crazy mix, like rave yidaki vibe. My dog’s name is Djapa, which is the interlude name. And ‘MAD DOG’ is another fun one [about] my dog being a little menace. And having his perspective, but also mine, and talking about, ‘Got me feeling like a mad dog.’ This track 100 percent makes me feel like a mad dog.” “RUNNING LOW” (with Pardyalone) “This track is talking about heartbreak and losing loved ones, but also making the loved ones that passed proud through music. When you work so long and so hard, and not having that connection to Country or home or family and stuff, you start to run low with passion and drive for what you love. I was getting to the point where it was just too much, and you basically run low. This one’s showing that vulnerability of Baker Boy.” “MALA (INTERLUDE)” “‘Mala’ in translations would mean ‘mob’ or ‘group of people.’ The track is mostly just showing strength and power and authority. An amazing interlude where I’m talking about the imagery of the spears and representing the three percent and that sort of vibe.” “THICK SKIN” (feat. Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee’ahn & Jada Weazel) “After the referendum result, I felt very heavy. And I just didn’t like the fact that there was dark energy, this eerie feeling hovering around me. I was in the midst of working on the record, and it was making me not enjoy it. I wasn’t focusing. [So I thought we’d] just let it all out so we can continue to work on the album. [The song] came together unexpectedly and I was like, ‘This is actually not too bad. We are going somewhere.’” “AMALA (INTERLUDE)” “It’s my mother’s voice. I was talking to her saying, ‘Mum, can I record you? I just need you to say some nice words.’ It was really nice and very cute what she says—my family’s proud of me and I should keep working and keep moving forward and have fun. We added a kind of glitchy effect sound to it, which makes it more fun.” “LIGHTNING” (with REDD.) “Another fun track with REDD. This one was pretty amazing having to rap in Yolŋu Matha, Burarra, and English. The whole track is so good and still [has] that poppy feeling. Almost like a shout-out to one of my old tracks, ‘Cool as Hell,’ which is a similar vibe. I’m a little bit lightning and I’m so flashy, so loud with the rumble, just showing that energy.” “MENACE” “This one’s about me and being like, ‘I’m going to be a menace and just go hectic and have fun party vibes and be crazy.’ Rapping in three languages, and a lot of references to Star Wars and The Phantom Menace, which I grew up with.” “WAR CRY” (with Jean Deaux) “When the Black Lives Matter movement was going on, a lot of people [were saying] I need to say something about it. At that time, I really wanted to, but I just couldn’t because I didn’t know the right words. So I drafted a big Instagram message and posted it, [saying] to people like, I’m glad you guys are jumping on this Black Lives Matter movement. But you’ve gotta also understand that I feel what everyone’s feeling, especially as a person of color, but we also worry about our own things that are happening in our own backyard as an Aboriginal man. And so this was my war cry of saying, ‘I’m Black and I’m proud and I’ll say my things how I want to say and how I want to tackle racism my own way, which is through music.’” “MUSTARD YELLOW” “It’s just talking about back home. I do have a mustard yellow sweater. It is very nice, but I can’t wear the sweater back home because it’d be too hot in Arnhem Land. But it’s more kind of like making you feel good, you’re ready to conquer. It’s a perfect song to finish the album. You just finished this rollercoaster ride, and before you jump out of the seats, it goes into a nice little calm slow down, and then you jump off. And the chorus: ‘I could be an angel, I could be a killer/I became a dragon from a caterpillar.’ From Gela to DJANDJAY, it’s in a way saying, Baker Boy, now it’s like, Baker Man.”