Rhyan Clapham, known by his stage name Dobby (stylised as DOBBY), is a Filipino-Aboriginal Australian musician. He describes himself as a "drapper", a contraction of

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, although he also plays other instruments and is also a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He sometimes raps with the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Jackie Brown Jr, but on his own is mainly a hip hop artist. He is known for his 2020 single "I can't breathe", featuring

BARKAA Barkaa (born 1995 as Chloe Quayle), styled BARKAA, is an Australian rapper and musician, and is a Malyangapa and Barkindji woman. In September 2020, ''GQ Magazine'' dubbed her "the new matriarch of Australian rap". and in 2020, Triple J listed ...

, as well as other work. In 2022 he won the Archie Roach Foundation Award.

Early life and education

Rhyan Clapham was born in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

. His mother had emigrated in 1985 from

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, a ...

in the Philippines, while his father is from

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a Weilwan name for a s ...

, New South Wales, Australia. His father's mother was a

Muruwari The Muruwari, also spelt Murawari, Murawarri, Murrawarri and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales and the southwestern area of Queensland. Language A monograph on and a dictionary of Muruwari have ...

woman from Ngemba country in Brewarrina. He is a member of the

Murrawarri Republic The Murrawarri Republic is a micronation that declared its independence from Australia in 2013, claiming territory straddling the border of the states of New South Wales and Queensland within Australia. The territory is the traditional homelan ...

in Brewarrina. Clapham studied classical piano in primary school from the age of seven, achieving

AMEB The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) is a federated, privately funded corporation which provides a program of examinations for music, speech and drama in Australia. The organisation had its beginnings at the Universities of Melbourne ...

Grade 6 in piano, and Grade 2 Musicianship. He then went on to study

jazz drumming Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

in high school, from age 14. He began listening to rappers like Outkast,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

, before turning to "more nuanced sounds of the culture", such as

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

The Pharcyde The Pharcyde (currently known as The Far Side) is an American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989, from South Central Los Angeles. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown ...

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

, and

MF DOOM Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

degree at

UNSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, specialising in

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

and piano. In 2015 he completed

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

in Indigenous Studies, also at UNSW, focusing on Aboriginal hip hop music.

Musical career

Clapham describes himself as a "drapper", a contraction of the words rapper and drummer. He also plays piano. He has performed at numerous festivals around Australia, including BIGSOUND (

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Parrtjima Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

(2021 and 2022),

The Plot The Plot is a Patience game which is played with two decks of playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked wi ...

, and Yabun Festival, as well as many

Koori Radio Koori Radio (callsign 2LND), formerly Radio Redfern, is a community radio station based in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern broadcasting to Sydney on a citywide licence. It is part of the Gadigal Information Service (GIS) and is the only radi ...

and NAIDOC celebratory events. He was a performer in Kevin Hunt's "Our music" concert at the Sydney Conservatorium, and has also performed at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, doing an entire 45-minute set to an empty Joan Sutherland auditorium, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

. He performed as part of the

Wollongong Conservatorium of Music Wollongong Conservatorium of Music is a centre for music education, community music-making and performance, serving the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO), as listed ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in the US, and has also performed in Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. He has been developing his skills in

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

, being mentored by

Chris Sainsbury Christopher Sainsbury is a composer, performer and teacher of music. he is an associate professor at the ANU School of Music, Canberra, where he lectures in composition, songwriting, and contemporary Australian Indigenous music. He is descended ...

(Indigenous composer and senior lecturer at

ANU School of Music The ANU School of Music is a school in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, which forms part of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of ...

), and was supported by the Peter Sculthorpe Fellowship for a couple of years from 2017. He released his first EP, ''DOBBY'', in 2018. In October of that year, he appeared in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

as part of the

OzAsia Festival OzAsia Festival, or simply OzAsia, is an Asia-focused arts festival in South Australia, presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre for two weeks in late October to early November each year. It features theatre, dance, music, film and visual arts ...

, headlining a show at Nexus Arts, supported by

DyspOra Gabriel Erjok Majer Akon (born 1994), known professionally as DyspOra (pronounced "die-spora"), is a South Sudanese-born Australian hip hop artist, poet and activist. He is the founder of the music collective and independent record label Pl ...

and ELSY. In April 2019 DOBBY appeared at the

Boomerang Festival The Byron Bay Bluesfest, formerly the East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival, is an annual Australian music festival that has been held over the Easter long weekend in the Byron Bay, New South Wales, area since 1990. The festiva ...

, a section of Bluesfest at

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

dedicated dedicated to Indigenous performance, art and culture. In October 2019 he again appeared at

OzAsia OzAsia Festival, or simply OzAsia, is an Asia-focused arts festival in South Australia, presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre for two weeks in late October to early November each year. It features theatre, dance, music, film and visual a ...

in Adelaide, this time with folk artist Naomi Keyte, and accompanied by the five-piece Afro-jazz band

Didier Kumalo The Shaolin Afronauts are an Afrobeat band based in Adelaide, Australia. Their music is heavily influenced by West African Afrobeat artists such as Fela Kuti, but also incorporates elements of avant-garde jazz, Soul music, soul and other tradit ...

(led by guitarist Dylan Marshall, founding member of the

Shaolin Afronauts The Shaolin Afronauts are an Afrobeat band based in Adelaide, Australia. Their music is heavily influenced by West African Afrobeat artists such as Fela Kuti, but also incorporates elements of avant-garde jazz, soul and other traditional Afri ...

). The online magazine ''

Clothesline A clothes line or washing line is any type of rope, cord, or twine that has been stretched between two points (e.g. two sticks), outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing that has recently been washed is hung along the line t ...

'' gave the performance five stars. Also in 2019, he released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of " We Have Survived" by Aboriginal band No Fixed Address. His 2020 single "I can't breathe", featuring

, became an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia, and has been incorporated into some school curricula. The song references a number of issues specific to Indigenous Australians, such as the forced removal of children from families in the past, the high levels of Indigenous Australian incarceration,

Aboriginal deaths in custody Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody ...

. 27 July 2020. For years before 2021 and continuing, he has been working on a major project called ''Marshmallow'', an 18-track work. In 2021 he and his band toured extensively in regional areas across Australia, including Brewarrina, as well as capital cities, including

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. DOBBY performed alongside

at the

Sydney New Year's Eve Sydney New Year's Eve is an annual New Year's Eve fireworks event in Sydney, Australia. The event currently consists of two fireworks shows, with an evening display known as the "Family Fireworks" held at 9:00 p.m. AEST, and the main "Midnight ...

celebrations in 2021/22. In June 2022, DOBBY presented ''WARRANGU; River Story'' at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

in partnership with

Vivid Sydney Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, held in Sydney, Australia. It includes outdoor immersive light installations and projections, performances by local and international musicians, and an ideas exchange forum featurin ...

. The project is an eight-track video which tells a story about the use and misuse of the land and rivers around the river system around Brewarrina. In November 2022, he collaborated with other First Nations artists

Emma Donovan Emma Donovan (born 1981) is an Aboriginal Australian singer and songwriter. She is a member of the renowned musical Donovan family. She started her singing career at age seven with her uncle's band, the Donovans. In 2000, she became a founding m ...

Emily Wurramara Emily Wurramara is an Indigenous Australian singer and songwriter. In 2018, Wurramara was nominated for Best Blues and Roots Album at the ARIA Awards. Early life Wurramara is a Warnindhilyagwa woman from Groote Eylandt, off the Northern Te ...

, Drmngnow, and

Optamus Scott Griffiths, better known by the stage name Optamus, is one of the MCs of the Perth, Western Australia, Perth-based Australian Hip hop music, hip-hop group Downsyde and member of WA's Syllabolix Crew. Optamus is also the name of Griffiths' s ...

to create a song in memory of

Cassius Turvey Cassius Turvey was a 15-year-old Australian boy who was assaulted on 13 October 2022 in Perth, Western Australia, and died ten days later of his injuries. His death sparked vigils and rallies across Australia and internationally. A 21-year-old m ...

, a

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

Yamatji Yamatji (or Yamaji) is a Wajarri word that has at least three different meanings: * a member of the Watjarri people * any Aboriginal Australian person from the Murchison region of Western Australia * any group made up of members of different I ...

boy who had died at the age of 15 the result of an assault by a random attacker when walking home from school in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. The song, titled "Forever 15", was played at Turvey's funeral on 18 November 2022 and was released three days later on 21 November 2022.

Jackie Brown Jr

DOBBY raps with a band called Jackie Brown Jr. The five members of the

and soul band met while studying music in 2013. In October 2018 they released their debut EP ''Over-Abroad'', and toured the country during the following two months. The band members are: *Madeleine Mallis (of Good Pash) – lead vocalist and

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

*Rhyan Clapham (DOBBY) – drummer, MC *Michael J Brady – guitarist and keyboard player *Gideon Traurig – bass *Hilary Geddes (of The Buoys) – guitar

Musical style and themes

DOBBY believes that hip hop music is a powerful educational tool: He is passionate about

reconciliation in Australia Reconciliation in Australia is a process which officially began in 1991, focused on the improvement of race relations between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia and the rest of the population. The Council for Aboriginal ...

, which needs action, not just words; everyone in Australia can contribute to this in different ways. He believes in using his music to help reconciliation.

Other activities

DOBBY is also a workshop facilitator and speaker. In 2018, he spoke at Vivid Ideas at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Vivid Vivid may refer to: Music * Vivid (band), a Japanese rock band * "Vivid" (song), by Electronic, 1999 *"ViViD", a 2016 song by Loona from '' HeeJin'' Albums * ''Vivid'' (Vivian Green album), 2015 * ''Vivid'' (Crystal Kay album), 2012 * ''Vivi ...

festival, and in 2019 at the

JLF Adelaide OzAsia Festival, or simply OzAsia, is an Asia-focused arts festival in South Australia, presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre for two weeks in late October to early November each year. It features theatre, dance, music, film and visual a ...

(

Jaipur Literature Festival The Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian city of Jaipur each year in the month of January. It was founded in 2006. It is the world's largest free literary festival. The Diggi Palace ...

, South Australia). He co-hosted a hip hop show on

FBi Radio FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...

with Krystel Diola from 2016 until 2019. Diola is a Filipina-Australian multi-instrumentalist, who toured with DOBBY as part of his band in 2021.

Recognition and awards

In 2017 Clapham was awarded the Peter Sculthorpe Fellowship, an award for emerging composers and performers worth . He used the award to develop his musicianship, and, in particular, to further his work on the stories of the Brewarrina Ngunnhu ( Ngemba for "fish traps"). This led to the creation of ''WARRANGU; River Story'', which premiered at Art Gallery NSW in June 2022. In 2020, his

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "I can't breathe" (directed by Luke Currie-Richardson and Benjamin Ling) won best video at the

FBi SMAC Awards FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...

. ;National Indigenous Music Awards The

National Indigenous Music Awards The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA), also known as the NT Indigenous Music Awards from 2004 to 2008, are music awards presented to recognise excellence, innovation and leadership among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians in ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the achievements of Indigenous Australians in music. ! , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, rowspan="2", Dobby , New Talent of the Year , , rowspan="2", , - , Archie Roach Foundation Award ,

Discography

Extended Plays

Singles

Other appearances

References

External

* {{Authority control Australian hip hop musicians Australian male rappers Indigenous Australian musicians 21st-century Australian musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Wollongong Australian people of Filipino descent