Music of New Zealand - Hip Hop

Hip Hop

The genesis of New Zealand hip hop began from such elements as the release of the 1979 US movie The Warriors, and the rise of the breakdancing craze, both of which emanated from New York City. Breaking was one of the four elements of the original hip hop culture. The others were graffiti art, emceeing and Deejaying.

Many of New Zealand's first hip hop performers, such as Dalvanius Prime, whose "Poi E" was a major hit, were Māori. "Poi E" had no rapping and was not pure hip hop. It was basically a novelty record intended as a soundtrack for dancing. Even so, it marked a shift from reggae and funk as the previously most favoured genre of Māori musicians.

The first entire album of locally produced hip hop was Upper Hutt Posse's E Tu EP, from 1988. E Tu was partially in Māori and partially in English, and its lyrics were politically charged.

The first major New Zealand hip hop hit was "Hip Hop Holiday" by 3 The Hard Way. Sampling the song "Dreadlock Holiday" by 10CC, it went to number one for several weeks in 1993 and was also an Australian hit. To date, it remains the biggest selling NZ hip hop single in New Zealand.

In the 1990s, New Zealand hip hop scene grew with the added input of Pacific Island musicians, creating a local variant style known as Urban Pasifika, a term first coined by producer Alan Jansson for the influential Proud collection in 1994. That album, featuring Sisters Underground and OMC, helped set the stage for the next decade of New Zealand hip hop. 'Protest' content was still present, but lyrical and musical emphasis had largely evolved into a more chart-friendly sound. Artists such as Che Fu and, more recently, Nesian Mystik, and Scribe, have carried the ideas and themes to new heights. In 2004, Scribe became the first New Zealand artist to achieve the double honour of simultaneously topping the New Zealand singles and album charts.

In 2005, Savage, a New Zealand Samoan hip hop artist, had back-to-back number one hits with Swing and Moonshine, the latter featuring US artist Akon. Both songs stayed in the number one spot for eight weeks.