Podcast Explores Vibrant Roots of Our Hip Hop Scene

In podcast Aotearoa Hip Hop: The Music, The People, The History, Phil Bell aka DJ Sir-Vere talks to some of the genre’s most iconic figures and unsung heroes, exploring how music helped Māori and Pasifika kids push back against racism. Dazed contributor Martyn Pepperell, and Aotearoa Hip Hop collaborator, speaks to the British magazine about the show.

Aotearoa Hip Hop mines the insider knowledge gained by DJ Sir-Vere as a music fan, hip hop artist, and former editor of the iconic New Zealand music magazine Rip It Up. Reflecting his position at the forefront of the movement, it also features the voices of some of the scene’s most important figures and unsung heroes, Thom Waite writes for Dazed.

“We were both already pretty fluent in the history,” Pepperell tells Waite. “But in the process of interviewing over one hundred people, we realised that there was a lot more going on than we initially realised, and it needed to be considered in a serious and meaningful manner.”

“[In the late 70s and early 80s] hip hop was the new cool, and whether you’re talking about dancing, rapping, or DJing, Māori and Pasifika kids were quickly streets ahead of the white New Zealand youth,” Pepperell says.

Original article by Thom Waite, Dazed, December 26, 2021.