Perfecting his music, rapper Rhyan Clapham, known by his stage name Dobby, advocates for action on issues relevant to Aboriginal Australians.
“Through my music, I’m able to talk about cultural significance and express my thoughts on environmental issues like how we’ve been misusing the river system," he shares.
Highlights:
- For Clapham, music is a powerful tool to share people's stories.
- For Filipino-Aboriginal rapper Dobby, it is through music that he's able to raise issues affecting Indigenous people.
- Music is also Clapham's way of connecting with the people and calling for action.
Aboriginal-Filipino roots
The singer-composer has a deep connection to Indigenous Australia.
Born in Wollongong, a coastal city south of Sydney, Clapham's Indigenous father is from Brewarrina in Ngemba land and from the Murrawarri Republic in Weilmoringle, NSW.
His mother arrived in Australia in 1985 from Tacloban, in the Philippines.
"My grandmother was born and raised in a place called Brewarrina, in North-West New South Wales, and her great-grandfather was born under the birthing tree on the Culgoa River, an hour north of Brewarrina," the rapper shares.
He admits, however, that he has a lot to learn about his culture and his people's stories.
"There is so much for me to learn and this is a great way for me to be reconnected and to learn my language. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to engage hip-hop in this way."
Filipino-Aboriginal musician, hip hop rapper, drummer and composer Rhyan Clapham, also known as Dobby. Source: Vyva Entertainment
Culture and music
Taking inspiration from the three rivers that connect the lands from where his family is from, Dobby produced his album, titled Warrangu River Story.
“I started performing this music in 2019 but since then and also throughout Covid, I’ve been finalising and perfecting this project that I have been working on for about four years and it’s called Warrangu River Story.
"Warrangu is Ngemba for 'river'. It means any river, water source, any creek."
"This story that I made is an eight-track album about the rivers that run through Brewarrina which is the Barwon and Culgoa rivers," the 26-year-old explains.
He also shares the cultural significance of these three rivers which is the focus of the album.
"There’s so much cultural history, the stories, the language, the significance of these rivers that make up the boundaries of our different territories whether it be Ngemba country or Murwarri country, Wailwan, Kamilaroi, Barkindji."
In the album, he raises issues like the over-irrigation and misuse of the river water system.
"Over-irrigation, in general, has led to the massive destruction of the Murray-Darling River Basin which led to a million fish dying in Menindee among others."
"Hip hop be something that can be a bridging step for people to use to speak up and say something or advocate for Aboriginal issues next time." Source: Cole Bennets & Luke Currie-Richardson
The power of music
As a young Aboriginal person, Clapham uses his music as a vessel to spread important messages to the younger generations.
"The power of music, in my case hip-hop, can really help towards bridging and taking action for reconciliation to truly happen.
"It is really a great platform not just for music, but for education as well as political. It can call for policy changes.
Hip-hop is something that can be a bridging step for people to use to speak up and say something or advocate for Aboriginal issues next time.
It is also through music that he shares the stories of his people.
"People connect to stories more than anything. And if it means for people to really connect with, and in order for them to listen to that they can be more compassionate about Indigenous people’s issues as a whole, then that’s the best outcome."
Clapham, along with other Aboriginal and Filipino musicians, is currently touring Australia.
"Krystel Diola is a multi-talented instrumentalist who plays everything under the sun. She's absolutely a constant inspiration to me.
"We’ve been on tour, her being the DJ, as well as Emmanuel, an amazing Armenian-Syrian pianist, Yuwalaaraay-Murrawarri singer-songwriter-guitarist Kelsey Iris and talented storyteller Luke Currie-Richardson."
They hope to share their music and the stories behind it.
“We’ve just come off the second leg of our Warrangu River Story tour. We started off in Walgett, into Lighting Ridge as well as into Brewarrina where my family are from.
"We also did our tour in Bathurst, Lithgow and Wellington in NSW."
They are set to sail to Weilmoringle, just north of Bruie, up to Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga and other surrounding areas as well as to Brisbane.
"Due to Covid, it’s another reason why it’s a great time for us to tour regionally and to go to smaller communities to be able to bring music to them."
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