Rap
How Melodownz first visit to his marae for special waiata changed his life
"It’s about waiata and it’s about the language, but for me it changed my life.”
Premiere: Mazbou Q’s new music documentary shows a future of Black freedom
Rapper Mazbou Q has released a mini-documentary with a message for the African diaspora.
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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.
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…
Auckland rapper Hans. shows us how to make Korean cocktails | Party Trick
Impress your friends at your next Korean barbecue hang. Auckland rapper Hans. shows us how to whip up yum cocktails that disguise the "ass" taste of…
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…
Re:hearsal Room: Bobandii
Bobandii can only cry when he's making music - and he thinks maybe that's why he's a musician. He talks self-exploration, putting out music as a…
The Others Way Festival
K’Road made a strong argument for being the home of music in Aotearoa.
The Others Way Festival hit Karangahape Road on Friday night for an evening of eclectic…
Randa
Randa took some time out from being incredible to talk identity, fashion and artistic processes over a coffee served in a pastry shell ☕️
SWIDT
Meet SWIDT, the rap group from Onehunga with more nominations than Lorde at this year's Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Find out how they'd spend $10…
Rapper JessB in a live performance of Set It Off | Re.cord
JessB's Facebook bio says "JUST YO FAVORITE FEMALE FLAME SPITTA" and we couldn't agree more ???
Re.cord Volume 4: Melodownz
Bronson AKA Melodownz is an artist, poet, rapper and gentle Polynesian panther.
Church & AP
Church & AP are two teenagers from Tāmaki Makaurau that are making waves in the rap game.