New Zealand hip hop
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New Zealand hip hop derives from the wider hip hop cultural movement originating amongst African Americans in the United States. Like the parent movement, New Zealand hip hop consists of four parts: rapping, DJing, graffiti art and breakdancing. The first element of hip hop to reach New Zealand was breakdancing, which gained notoriety after the release of the 1979 gangster movie The Warriors. The first hip hop hit single, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang became a hit in New Zealand when it was released there, in 1980, a year after it was released in the United States. By the middle of the 1980s, breakdancing and graffiti art were established in urban areas like Wellington and Christchurch. By the early 1990s Hip Hop became apart of mainstream New Zealand culture.
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[edit] Music
Hip hop music is most popular amongst Māori or Pacific Islanders, who are also the majority of rappers. However the music is also enjoyed by Pākehā (white New Zealanders) and other ethnic groups, some who have enjoyed commercial success. The first hip hop musicians to achieve recognition combined American styles with Māori language and traditional songs. For example the first New Zealand hip hop song to become a hit was Dalvinius Prime's Poi E, which was entirely in Te Reo Māori (the Māori language). Upper Hutt Posse likewise combined hip hop and Māori culture in their 1988 album E Tu, which was New Zealand's first album of pure hip hop. Primative Morbid was a more underground yet powerful group. Some rappers, such as the members of Upper Hutt Posse, became known for politicized lyrics in support of tino rangatiratanga (Maori sovereignty).
Another Maori hip hop group, Moana and the Moa Hunters, who won a New Zealand Music Industry award for best Maori recording in 1992, speak out against the perceived racism they see against the Maori people in New Zealand. They cite the rarity of airtime on national radio for Maori music and the exclusion from the mainstream music industry as reflective of the wider societal problem. [1] The awarded song is called "AEIOU (Akona Te Reo)", and translates as "Learn the Language". Its release was directed primarily at Maori youth who do not speak Maori. The song has been viewed as a plea by Moana and the Moa Hunters to encourage the Maori people to learn more about their culture and their traditional language. The majority of the lyrics are in English [2].
Despite the style's burgeoning popularity, many New Zealanders hated hip hop, and some radio stations implemented a so-called "no rap, no crap" policy. It was Upper Hutt Posse's DJ, DLT, that helped lay the groundwork for a local scene in Auckland, from which arose Joint Force, Che Fu and Dam Native. DLT also began the influential radio show True Skool Hip Hop Show, which joined Wellington's Wednesday Night Jam in promoting hip hop. Wellington's underground scene was vibrant in the late '80s, from whence arose the local supergroup Rough Opinion and a wave of performers like The Wanderers, Temple Jones and Hamofide.
New Zealand only has a population of 4 million people, but their artists have created a stir in the hip hop world.[3]. Che Fu is one of New Zealand's most successful hip hop artists. He actually began his career at high school with a group of friends. They eventually formed the Low Down Dirty Blues Band, which went on to be the legendary Supergroove. Their first album, 'Traction' sold triple platinum and went on to win countless awards. Che Fu's fame continued through the 90's and in 2002 he won album of the year in the New Zealand music awards.[4].
In the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, Maori and Polynesian hip hop musicians grew steadily more popular, resulting in a style called Urban Pasifika. However artists from this period were from a variety of cultures and included Savage, Korza, Che Fu, Nesian Mystik and Scribe, who became the first to top both the single and album charts at the same time in 2004, and also the most famous acts associated with the biggest record producer in the field, P-Money. Most of these artists are signed with Dawn Raid Entertainment, a Polynesian-run record label based in Manukau. Dawn Raid briefly went out of business early in 2007 after financial problems resulting from expensive production of several albums. However investors were found and the label was resurrected.
In Wellington, K.O.S.-163, more commonly known as Kosmo, turned up the hip hop scene during the 1980's. Back from a visit from Los Angeles, California Kosmo introduced a new type of dance called popping that he had mastered there. Aware of their accent's and other 'foreign' markers, Samoan youth in California used dancing and hip hop to assert themselves. This is because young Samoan's in multicultural neighborhoods earned status and respect through mastering physical physical activities like dance and sports. Nearly three decades of Somoan involvement in street dance and rap music has influenced the scene in other cities such as Wellington. [5] With two other New Zealanders, Kosmo started the hip hop group called "The Mau". The name represents Samoan independence. Samoans are a very prideful group of people, so this name is very fitting. Samoans do not like to follow other cultures and believe that having their own unique identity is very important. The Samoans wanted to break free from dominant culture and assert their own culture. This hip hop group represented this Samoan pride.[6]
[edit] Breakdancing
Breakdancing first came to New Zealand via American Samoa through Western Samoa in the early 1980s. One can see the influence of Samoan culture in New Zealand's appropriation of breakdancing specifically through language. The term "bopping," for example, comes from a Samoan pronunciation of popping, one of the elements in breakdance, where a dancer will move in a stilted fashion, isolating their limbs robotically.[7] After its initial period of popularity, breakdancing fell out of fashion for most of the 1990s. Late in that decade it underwent a revival, and breakdancing stages can be found at events such as the Aotearoa Hip-Hop Summit[1].
The nearly three decades of Samoan involvement in street dance and rap music in California has significantly impacted Samoan cultural production in other places where Samoans have settled, including New Zealand.[8] The dancing in New Zealand is heavily influenced by American dances.
One reason break dancing became popular was that many youth saw it as a way of being recognized or a channel of identity. Maori youth that had little chance of being recognized for accomplishments in school or sport found break dancing as a new way to achieve recognition. Early on, New Zealand even sponsored a national break dancing competition for young Maori and pacific islanders. This helped many young breakers to realize their potential by giving them a nation audience.[9]. [10]
Many of the Maori and Pacific Island youth found alternative possibilities to organize their daily lives. Images of street dance arriving via imported American media - such as the movies Flashdance or Beat Street granted a legitimacy to their efforts. This gave a boost of confidence for both Maori and the children of recent immigrants, and the American street dance forms such as popping, locking and breaking created a friendly environment for the Maori and Pacific Islander youth in order to fashion their own styles and codes. [11]
[edit] Graffiti art
As elsewhere, New Zealand graffiti art takes two forms: bombing (usually large scale and multi-coloured, using paint and generally requiring some artistic skill) and tagging (stylised writing of the tagger's 'tag' name). Both are fairly underground, although some bombers have achieved some positive recognition. In terms of style both are very similar to overseas models, although a Māori or Pacific influence can sometimes be detected.
[edit] References
- ^ Mitchell, Tony. "Kia Kaha! (Be Strong!): Maori and Pacific Islander Hip-hop in Aotearoa-New Zealand." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 280-305. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
- ^ Mitchell, Tony. "Kia Kaha! (Be Strong!): Maori and Pacific Islander Hip-hop in Aotearoa-New Zealand." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 280-305. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
- ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 186-187. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200
- ^ New Zealand Hip Hop - A selection of New Zealand Hip Hop Artists
- ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200
- ^ Cultural Self-Esteem - The Resource | The Next
- ^ Kopytko, Tania. "Breakdance as an Identity Marker in New Zealand." Yearbook for Traditional Music Vol. 18 (1986): 21-28.
- ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, pg 183
- ^ Mitchell, Tony. "Kia Kaha! (Be Strong!): Maori and Pacific Islander Hip-hop in Aotearoa-New Zealand." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 280-305. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
- ^ Kopytko, Tania "Breakdance as an Identity Marker in New Zealand"pp. 21-28
- ^ Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora. April K. Henderson, p.192-194.
[edit] External links
- The Next An Impression of Hip Hop Expression A web based resource that looks at Hip Hop as a Global Movement, with a particualar focus on Aotearoa NZ and Indigenous Hip Hop.
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