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Back in 1973, a party in New York City would change the course of musical history - birthing a genre that would endure and grow over 50 years - and get a firm foothold in New Zealand.
Season 3 of NZ HIP HOP STAND UP launched this week, continuing the journey of delving deeper into the rich, diverse landscape of Aotearoa's hip hop history.. One of these Key figures speaks to me now.
In 1996, Dam Native’s ‘Behold My Kool Style’ made waves in challenging the ongoing effects of Pākehā colonisation and racism against Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa. “Robbed of our language, robbed of our land, robbed of our culture. This is why that song exists; to put Māori hip hop on the map,” says lead rapper Danny Haimona. Built on ‘groundbreaking lyricism’, ‘Behold My Kool Style’ was a track that explored what it meant to be Māori in a colonised state.
In 1996, Dam Native’s ‘Behold My Kool Style’ made waves in challenging the ongoing effects of Pākehā colonisation and racism against Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa. “Robbed of our language, robbed of our land, robbed of our culture. This is why that song exists; to put Māori hip hop on the map,” says lead rapper Danny Haimona. Built on ‘groundbreaking lyricism’, ‘Behold My Kool Style’ was a track that explored what it meant to be Māori in a colonised state.