Electronic press kit · Knowledge rap · Conscious hip hop · Spoken word Western Sydney (AU) · Minneapolis–St. Paul (US)

DeejAye

Poet
Rapper
Beatbox looper
Percussionist
Speaker

The anthropologist who raps. A lifetime emcee with a researcher's ear, writing sets for rooms that came to think and leave humming.

“Motivational rapper, inspire new chapters,
mobilize this art form to assist with resisting capture.”Original bar, Deej Aye

Hold a date: 45-min call See booking formats

Presenter brief

Performance for purpose

Deej Aye shapes his performance around why your audience has gathered. A festival crowd, a conference plenary, a classroom or a community celebration each comes with its own purpose, and he builds the set to serve it: lifting energy, opening a conversation, honouring a story or sending people back to their work with a new chapter in mind. Hip hop has always grown this way, live and in the room, through people who were there telling people who weren't.

7countries where he has engaged audiences

4working languages on the mic

15+years reading rooms for a living, as a researcher

Scale

Fits the room you have

Intimate · 40–150

Libraries, galleries, classrooms, cafés

Stripped-back looped set with room for conversation and audience participation.

Mid-size · 150–800

Theatres, clubs, cultural centres, campus halls

The full live-looped show: beatbox, percussion and call-and-response, paced as a headline set or a strong support slot.

Large · festivals and plenaries

Festival stages, conference plenaries, civic events

A high-energy set, or the lecture-performance as a main-stage keynote that keeps a thousand people awake after lunch.

General or themed. Book an open program of his own material for a general audience, or a themed set with a verse written on your subject, cause or community.

Options

Add to the booking

Local outreach

On request, ahead of the date he reaches out to aligned community groups, schools, campuses and networks near your venue, and sends ready-to-post clips, captions with alt text and a short personal invite for your channels.

A verse for your theme

For themed programs: send the topic, the keynote or the community's story, and he writes and performs an original piece on it, so the set lands as part of your program.

Stackable formats

One fee, one travel booking: a performance, a workshop and a panel seat in the same visit. More program per dollar, and more ways for new people to find the show.

An impact snapshot

For presenters who report to funders or boards, a trained evaluator can run a three-question audience pulse and returns a one-page summary you can drop into a funder acquittal, board report or next season's pitch.

Self-contained and easy to stage

Solo act with beatbox looping and hand percussion. Small footprint, quick changeover, no backline needed.

Fluent across the room

He can work lines in Spanish, Portuguese or Hebrew into a set, for rooms where more than one language lives.

Set list of formats

Ways to book

Format	What happens	Typical length	Best for
Live setConcert	Original conscious hip hop and knowledge rap, built live with beatbox loops and percussion. Call-and-response moments bring the room in.	20–45 min	Festivals, cultural centres, launches, galas
Lecture-performanceKeynote	“The Anthropologist Who Raps”: how rap works as a memory and cultural technology, delivered half as talk, half as performance.	45–60 min	Conferences, universities, sustainability and education events
WorkshopHands-on	Participants write and perform a group verse on your topic. Teaches creative communication, rhythm and confident delivery.	90 min – half day	Schools, youth programs, staff retreats, comms teams
ResidencyMulti-day	Co-designed with a community or class; ends in a public showcase of the work made together.	2–10 days	Schools, libraries, community and council programs
CommissionBespoke	An original anthem or jingle for your campaign or event, recorded and licensed for your channels.	Scoped per project	Mission-driven brands, utilities, campaigns, festivals

Fees are tiered for community, festival, education and corporate presenters. Quote on request.

Watch

See the work

▶ YouTube

Bio

Who he is

Fact sheet

At a glance

Genre: Conscious hip hop, knowledge rap, spoken word
Line-up: Solo emcee with live beatbox looping and hand percussion
Based: Western Sydney, Australia, and Minneapolis–St. Paul, USA. Available to tour both.
Audiences: All-ages and adult; general programs and themed events
Themes: Self-determination, socio-economic empowerment, equitable sustainability, food and energy justice, community economies
Languages: English; professional Spanish, Portuguese and Hebrew; working Lao and Thai

Engaged in: USA, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Laos
Training: Master of Applied Anthropology (Macquarie University); PhD candidate, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
Background: 15+ years in research and strategy, incl. Senior Design Researcher at PwC Australia
Tech needs: 2 vocal mics, 1 stereo DI for looper, 1 monitor, small table. Depending on the booking, a screen or projector for a QR code or visual accompaniment.
On request: Hi-res photos, stage plot, working-with-children check, insurance details, invoice entity (ABN / W-9)

Stages

Selected stages

Ronan Keating tourPercussionist · Thailand
Love Lawson FestivalAustralia
Sydney Poetry SlamSydney, Australia
Summer CypherMinneapolis, USA