Music
The Collective: The hood | Ep 5
Trey and Jay find new ways of rapping about hood life, no longer glorifying street pain? Laughton from Kora has the tools to help Mahima uncover…
The Collective: Our demons | Ep 4
Mataio explores the dark side of the music industry with hip hop duo No Comply. Iris reveals how her traumatic past has stolen her voice. Can…
The Collective: Pockets of gold | Ep 3
Hip hop legend Melodownz shares his top writing tips and things get real when they visit the gig venue. Amelia experiments with her musical identity to…
The Collective: Pressure makes diamonds | Ep 2
Tensions are high as it dawns on them just how much is involved in pulling off the gig. Mahima reveals the true depth of his emotional…
The Collective: The announcement | Ep 1
Marcus Powell from Blindspott grathers Crescendo Trust’s most promising emerging artists and offers them the biggest opportunity of their lives. Will they overcome their demons to…
The Dunedin band asking 'what are we going to do with all this shit?'
Dunedin Doom Pop duo Night Lunch’s new track ‘House Full of Shit’ really connects with the consumerist nightmare we are all living in.
“What are we going…
TEEKS on music as a form of healing
“It’s about reestablishment or reclamation of whakaaro Māori because I know our tupuna were emotionally aware and conscious of the power and strength in vulnerability and…
Filipe Manu is bringing Tongan music to the London opera
Filipe Manu never imagined he’d be an opera singer, let alone performing for the Royal Opera House in London at just 27 years old, but that’s…
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…
Nah Zone is uplifting brown creatives in Aotearoa | The Outliers
“We just need to get out of that whole humble mentality.”
Jonique Purcell knows music creatives in Aotearoa are just as good - if not better -…
The artist making bangers in a te reo Māori renaissance | The Outliers
“I’m a bridge. I don’t have to belong to just one culture, occupy this one space. I can be this in-between.” Rei calls himself “the creator…
Musician Valle on the power of returning home | The Outliers
“Growing up in New Zealand was complex. Looking different, being different, sounding different. I remember straightening my hair just to fit in.” Christchurch musician Valle travels…
Musician Isla Reeves on bipolar and reconnecting with her Māoritanga | The Outliers
"I had this calling to be part of te ao Māori, and recognise my own Māori-ness." Christchurch poet and musician Isla Reeves gets candid about her…
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…
Meet Fable, the anonymous hip hop artist from Papakura | The Outliers
Most artists work for their faces to be recognisable, but Fable AKA Shy Boy did everything he could to stop that. “When I first started getting…
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…
Pacific Heights, CHAII and Kings’ new track is for driving around the city at night
'405' is a track about extreme wealth and poverty, the best way to listen is to go for a drive.
TEEKS on being Māori in a mostly Pākehā music industry
TEEKS and Matariki Bennett have a beautiful kōrero at a beautiful location.
Disruptors 5: The art of coping and monetising grief
“To be an artist is to suffer.” The old adage coined by famed philosopher Aldous Huxley kicked off the fifth episode of Disruptors, which is the…
K-pop helped me accept myself as non-binary
“I felt very alone, I felt very isolated. And then I discovered K-pop.”
Māori Silver Scroll nominees on what it means to be an indigenous musician
Māori Silver Scroll nominees on what it means to be an indigenous songwriter or composer in 2020.
Disruptors Live: Artists talk about putting their suffering into art
Do you need to suffer to be an artist?
On Saturday Re: partnered with the Disruptors podcast and Basement Theatre to hold Good Grief: a live panel…
Marama Davidson on being told she’s a “good Māori” | Church and State
19-year-old musician and first-time voter Church meets the co-leader of the Green Party.
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.
Judith Collins on white privilege and politics | Church and State
19-year-old musician and first-time voter Church talks to National leader Judith Collins.
Lontalius and the rise of sad boi music
If there’s any year to be okay with being sad, it probably should be 2020.
There is something to…
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.
Hokohoko Kākahu me Theia | Thrifting with Theia
Alt-pop artist and lifelong thrifter Theia shares her best advice for shopping second-hand.