Baker Boy, Dallas Woods and Sampa The Great celebrate culture with Better Days
Three of Australian hip-hop's most brilliant names - each for their own distinct reasons - come together for a cultural celebration.
As Australia continues to embrace local hip-hop with its 'new-era' rise across the last few years, a couple of artists have really stepped up to prove that the country's rap space is one of the most potent, wide-spanning and incredible there is. There's a full list that would take a few thousand words to celebrate - musicians like Kaiit and A.Girl bring heavenly angelics to R&B; ONEFOUR overcoming everything to continue blossoming even internationally; high-tier records from some of the country's best and long-established - and while collaboration between many of them is constant, it's rare to see much of it released to the public (at least thus far).
Baker Boy, Sampa The Great and Dallas Woods are three artists we've consistently amplified over the last few years because of their presence in hip-hop, and what they bring to the country's culture that extends it to new lengths, and give things we no doubt wouldn't find anywhere else. Arnhem Land rapper Baker Boy is one of the first to commercially break-out with music incorporating his language - Yolngu Matha; Sampa The Great's transcendent exploration of the Zambian diaspore on her debut album The Return was award-winning and world-class; and Dallas Woods is quickly becoming a face for the future, with his presence as a Noongar man from the East Kimberely one that's motivated many aspiring Indigenous kids in Australia's west.
Today, they come together for a track titled Better Days, and it's one that highlights the depth of Australia's hip-hop space as it celebrates the diversity of the culture and the empowerment within that; capturing the spirits of the three rappers as they enrichen hip-hop with a moment that spans each of their distinctive edges, and what they to the country's hip-hop world that elevates it above the others.
It's a celebration of culture and background that sees Baker Boy, Sampa The Great and Dallas Woods move between languages - English, Yolngu Matha and Bemba (the latter features heavily on Sampa's latest record too) - as they capture the power in celebrating where you've come from and what's uplifted you in the past, whether that be family and the greater community built around them in the earlier years, right through to those that empower you and elevate you as you leave your communities behind - something all three of these rappers have felt, moving to Melbourne to further their careers.
It's a really powerful moment worth celebrating; a rare occurrence of some of hip-hop's most spectacular names binding together to celebrate their common paths (especially one that can be so complex), and have these complexities be so relatable to an audience that often has no inspirational figures in commercial culture. It's something Baker Boy, Dallas Woods and Sampa The Great have all presented in their music throughout the past, but together, it builds into something you have to pay attention to.
"Our common ground is bringing our cultures to the forefront in what is the mainstream right now," Sampa says on the track. "That’s something that I always saw and always admired in both Baker Boy and Dallas, and something I wanted to do for myself. Sometimes we put so much strain on artists, that they are even afraid to grow. I’m glad Baker Boy feels like he can actually express this element of himself. He doesn’t have to be one thing and that’s really beautiful."
Take a dive into the brilliant new single below:
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