Baker Boy to co-host final episode of CBAA Amrap and KCRW’s Global Beat: Australia

First Nations artist Baker Boy will co-host the final episode of Global Beat: Australia - the successful series showcasing Australian music representing a contemporary vision of a modern, diverse Australia to a US audience. Global beat: Australia features CBAA Amrap Manager Andrew Khedoori on Los Angeles' KCRW with host Raul Campos. This special episode airs 18 February (Sydney time).

Being a long-time community radio supporter, Baker Boy - aka Danzal Baker – is one of the biggest artists in Australian music and was pleased to play a part in the last episode of the series. His song Ride (ft. Yirrmal) was the first song to be played in the series’ debut episode. Baker Boy was named Young Australian of the Year in 2019 and his song ‘Cool as Hell’ was nominated in several categories in the 2019 ARIA Awards. In 2018, he won two awards at the National Indigenous Music Awards and named Male Artist of the Year in the National Dreamtime Awards. His debut album, Gela, was released in October 2021.

Describing his time spent with community radio as ‘really incredible’, Baker Boy, said, “I love hanging out with community radio people because most of them know me really well – most of them knew me before Baker Boy, so it’s kinda funny and also terrifying to see what information they will be bringing up.”

Andrew Khedoori, Amrap’s Manager, said, “Global Beat: Australia was an amazing series to work on, highlighting the great diversity in Australian music that community radio features each and every day. To have Baker Boy join us and co-host the final episode was a treat. Hearing his story, about his culture and community, his love for hip hop and so many great new Australian artists in such beautiful, open-hearted fashion was wonderful.

“This is a great cross-cultural collaboration, arriving at a time of continually surging interest in Australian music from the US and when Australian artists can and should look to expand their pathways to recognition. The US radio market is so diverse that an artist can get some traction there. Global Beat: Australia marks the start of a stronger exchange between US public radio and community radio in Australia and highlights the great work community radio does here to expose and promote new and emerging Australian artists no matter what kind of music they make,” he said.

To listen to this episode or catch up on all the other episodes of Global Beat: Australia, please visit: KCRW’s Global Beat | KCRW.

KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station and one of the most influential music stations in the US, which is why a series like this is so important for Australian artists. KCRW is known as a reliable source for news and cultural programming for generations of listeners in Southern California and across the globe.

For the first series of Global Beat: Australia, KCRW partnered with The Australian Music Alliance and CBAA’s Amrap with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.