Budjerah grew up in the national spotlight. Now he’s ready to reintroduce himself

At a time when the manosphere has taken over corners of social media, with figures like Andrew Tate and Myron Gaines pushing a conservative and aggressive take on what it means to be a man, singer Budjerah wants to recapture what it means to be a gentleman.

The 24-year-old, a Coodjinburra man from the Bundjalung nation, says the way masculinity was represented in his life was consistently positive. “I was very blessed to have so many incredible role models in my family. My dad, my cousins, my brothers, they influenced me in a good way,” he says.

“You hear a lot of bad stereotypes about Aboriginal men in particular that aren’t always true. That’s the definition of prejudice.”

The idea is at the centre of his debut album, Gentleman. ”I wanted this album to represent positive ways that men can be and the positive effects we can have on other people,” he says. “I think there are positive qualities in a gentleman that everyone can have, like opening doors for someone. Whether you’re a gentleman or not, or you believe in chivalry or not, it’s always best to lead with kindness and respect.”

Gentleman is funky, upbeat and assured. The titular opening track oozes swagger, while the swirling Pretty is emblematic of the confidence that Budjerah’s found as an artist. “I like the idea of the gentleman as an aspirational character I could play – this idea of being cool, calm, collected, put together, suave. Really putting in the effort, getting dressed up. I thought that was something cool I could aspire to be.”

The album arrives after years of percolation, and finds Budjerah carrying the weight of expectation on his shoulders. The singer won the ARIA award for Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist in 2021, and has spent the better part of the last decade adding to that success, amassing tens of millions of streams and collaborating with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Kylie Minogue, all off the back of a 2021 self-titled EP and a 2022 EP called Conversations. It’s a career trajectory that is seldom seen in Australia where, all too often, artists aren’t given the time to grow into themselves.

The release of Gentleman, then, is a coming-of-age for an artist who has grown up in the national spotlight, and he’s understandably itching for the album to be out. “The day before a release is always the worst day of my life,” he says. “I just can’t wait for it to be out in the world and I don’t have to think about it any more, and the people can just have their opinions on it. I’m just really excited for that ‘let go’ moment.”

That feeling would be understandable for any artist, but especially for Budjerah. Work began on Gentleman when he was 20. He’s now 24, married, and has lived a lot more life. “Since I released my first single, it’s just been about learning and getting myself together. I feel like it was artist development in a way, getting mentored by all these incredible artists and producers and musicians,” he says.

With Grammy-winning producer Om’Mas Keith at the helm, Gentleman is an album that is lush and expansive, painting a full picture of Budjerah’s musical journey. “It’s been a whirlwind, a lot of trial and error, trying different things and experimenting. We could do whatever we wanted,” he says.

“I felt like I definitely was challenged a lot in the making of this, and my skill was pushed to the limit. I had to really push my singing harder than I’ve sung before, and learning how to dance and sing at the same time was a challenge.”

‘Whether you’re a gentleman or not, or you believe in chivalry or not, it’s always best to lead with kindness and respect.’

His family’s influence is present throughout Gentleman. Budjerah’s parents are both licensed pastors, and he cut his teeth performing at his local church in Fingal Head, long before the world discovered his talents. His band, meanwhile, is made up of his cousins, and his little brother plays keys on Remember Your Name.

His family always hears his music before anyone else. “I always show my demos to my dad and my mum as soon as I leave a studio. It’s straight to them immediately. It’s always good to have honest feedback,” he says with a smile.

Budjerah wears his musical influences on his sleeve, looking to Michael Jackson, Usher and Beyoncé for inspiration. The latter even launched a moment of serendipity while he was in Los Angeles and contemplating a trip to Las Vegas to sample the city’s high-profile residencies.

“I was gonna see Lady Gaga because she was doing a big band jazz concert, but then I saw Beyoncé was doing the Renaissance tour that weekend and I booked the tickets,” he recalls. “She sang a song called Flaws and All, which is a gratitude song to her fans. I was like, I need a song like Flaws and All. I wanted something to express my gratitude to my family and to my fans.”

The day after the concert, his producer Keith (who he affectionately describes as “uncle”) told him they were off to work with the legendary songwriter Diane Warren. Warren, a Grammy-winner and 17-time Oscar nominee, penned I Was Here from Beyoncé‘s Four, Budjerah’s favourite album. During the session, she played the pair Even At My Worst, which became Gentleman’s closing track.

He beams from ear to ear recounting their time together. “She has written so many songs that I love, so getting to meet her and go to her studio, someone I’ve learned from as a songwriter myself, and to be able to hear her songs and to hear her as I’m singing the song, and she’s telling me how to sing it, how to shape the vowels, the specific notes. And if I was a little bit off, she’d correct it and tell me to do it again.”

Gentleman is a reintroduction of sorts to the world of Budjerah, a summary of the personal growth he’s experienced over the last half-decade. “A lot of people met me when I was like 16 or 17. Now I’m 24 and the content of the lyrics is a little bit more mature, singing about romance and heartbreak and stuff like that in a different kind of way than what I did six or seven years ago,” he says.

“I think of this as the album that the seven-year-old version of me would have loved. I wanted to be the artist that he would have loved.”

Budjerah’s debut album Gentleman is out now. He will perform at Melbourne’s The Espy on October 31, Anglesea’s The Sound Doctor on November 1, Sydney’s Metro Social on November 7, Gold Coast’s Miami Marketta on November 20, and Brisbane’s Triffid Beer Garden on November 21.

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