Hip Hop
Opinion: NZ’s Māori and Pasifika hip hop community need to address anti-Blackness
To clarify, you do not own hip hop. It has never 'belonged' to you and it never will.
SWIDT: 'Crying is a form of healing' | Eating Fried Chicken in the Shower
“We probably do a better job of looking after the community than the cops do.”
Four life lessons we can learn from the fall of hip-hop giants Dawn Raid
We speak to Oscar Kightley, the director of 'Dawn Raid', a doco about the legendary NZ hip hop label.
Rapper Mo Muse didn’t feel belonging in Aotearoa until he found Hip Hop | The Outliers
When Mo Muse was young, kids used to tell him “you’re not one of us.” Now the Somali refugee rapper is selling out gigs in Aotearoa…
A 64 Bars debut from Ranuimarz that’s “full of mana”
“When they hear Ranuimarz, they know exactly where I’m from.”
Ranuimarz and fellow West Aucklander Melodownz meet up ahead of Ranuimarz’s explosive 64 Bars debut at Red…
Our favourite music by NZ artists in 2020
A list of our favourite songs by artists in Aotearoa in 2020.
20-year-old Shiraz is “the most underrated MC in the country”
Shiraz used to keep his rapping a secret. Now, he’s being called the most underrated rapper in New Zealand by one of his inspirations, Dirty. Shiraz…
Waguan raps about social justice while making you dance
“We out here talking about social justice and twerking.”
Making people dance while rapping about social justice can seem like an unlikely combo. But for Waguan, like…
Muslim rapper Abrzy travels to Bangladesh to make sense of his home in Aotearoa | The Outliers
Abid Rahman - stage name Abrzy - is a rapper living in Wellington. We travel with him to the city he was born in, Dhaka, Bangladesh,…
Winston Peters on how fish heads are the secret to youthful skin | Church and State
19-year-old musician and first-time voter Church, from Church & AP, speaks to Winston Peters.
Melodownz shows us how to make his banana pancakes | Party Trick
Hip hop artist and hot sauce maker Melodownz shows us his banana panikeke recipe.
Mazbou Q empowers Black pride in his latest release
Hugh Ozumba has been making music since he was four. Better known by his stage name Mazbou Q, the Manurewa-raised artist and producer began with the…
Auckland rapper/actor/geography student Hans. shares his new music video
Auckland rapper Hans.’ new music video features the acting talent of Hans., Hans., Hans. and Hans.
Watch out for NZ rap competition winner RAAJ
Meet RAAJ, an upcoming talent in our underground hip hop scene. The Red Bull Next winner joins Church and Smoke in the studio to cook up…
Team Dynamite share their soothing new track ‘Dragon Fruit’
One of the first scenes of the ‘Dragon Fruit’ music video is Lucky Lance standing half-submerged at the bottom of a waterfall, fully clothed, in a…
Revealed: New Zealand's top five underground rappers, judged by Smoke and Church
Red Bull is searching for the next big thing in New Zealand hip hop. Here's an exclusive look at the five finalists chosen by Church (Church and…
Black New Zealanders on how hip hop finally gave them a place to belong
“When I was growing up in primary school, they weren’t used to the African face or the African features. The only people I saw who looked…
How to make a beat with SWIDT producer Smokeygotbeatz
Whether it's some snare drums or a packet of Yum Yum noodles, SWIDT producer Smokeygotbeatz knows how to use sounds to create a bouncy, catchy beat.…
Sound Check: Randa rejects the productivity myth
And they talk gender identity, and dealing with OCD before and during Covid.
Melodownz turned self-affirmations into a catchy hook
During a rough time in his life, Melodownz repeated positive affirmations to himself in the mirror. Then he realised the mantras made a pretty sweet hook.…
5 things we learnt about JessB in our IG live chat
It's NZ Music Month and we're having lunchtime chats on the gram with NZ artists! First up, we talk durags from AliExpress and being creative during…
How Church & AP are making it work during Covid-19
“There’s not a lot of interesting things in the world to talk about right now apart from Covid-19,” says Church from the Tāmaki Makaurau rap duo…
Release of the Week: Diggy Dupé turns a Niuean war chant into an exhilarating hip hop track
Since we’ve just entered a nationwide, 4-week long lockdown, Diggy Dupé briefly considered pushing his music video release for ‘Keke Boy’ a week later... but then…
Release of the Week: Raiza Biza and his crew of African-Kiwi artists are stealing back their funds
Like pretty much every artist in New Zealand, Raiza Biza has just had a bunch of shows and interviews cancelled due to measures to stem the…
Premiere: Mo Muse’s new music video “goes out to all the immigrants”
“This one goes out to all the immigrants, maaan,” is how Mo Muse begins his song ‘All the Kids’.
Then he quips, “You know, we always had…
Release of the Week: Auckland rapper Hans. takes us into his dreamy $5 music video
This week, Hans. released ‘Getby’, our first peek into his new project Tango Hue.
Hans. has a knack for transforming everyday motifs into something special. In the…
Re:hearsal Room: Mazbou Q
Mazbou Q (formerly Unchained XL) talks tapping into Pan-Africanism in his music, being united against imperialism and, really, just being a dope rapper.
Re:hearsal Room: Swizl Jager
Swizl Jager is all about using as much te reo in his music as he can. He talks about "keeping it reo" and the joys of…
Re:hearsal Room: Raiza Biza
What's it like to move to NZ and feel the pressure to fulfill the classic immigrant's tale? That is: get educated, make lots of money and…
School of Beatbox
When she was in high school, Hope saw Ladi6 beatboxing and that was it for her; "that signed and sealed it." Hope knew she was going…