Urban Pasifika

Urban Pasifika
Stylistic origins	New Zealand reggae hip hop funk pop rock jazz soul reggae folk
Cultural origins	Late 1980s, South Auckland
Typical instruments	Vocals Spanish guitar turntables drum machine drums keyboard sampler bass guitar guitar synthesizer
Other topics
Underground hip hop Turntablism Alternative music

Urban Pasifika (also known as Urban Pacific and Urban Pacifika) is a New Zealand

Māori music, and Māori cultural in general, went through a renaissance in the early 1980s, both in terms of revival of traditional styles and political self identity. Many Māori came to identify with the politics and rhythms of the reggae music of the Caribbean, leading to the development of a distinctly New Zealand reggae style, led by groups such as Herbs and Dread Beat & Blood. In 1983, Māori singer Dalvanius Prime recorded a song, "Poi E", with kapa haka group Pātea Māori Club combining breakdancing rhythms with traditional Māori music, which became a surprise hit - the biggest hit in Te Reo Māori for 25 years.^[3]

In the late 1980s, Upper Hutt Posse became the first New Zealand band to record a bilingual rap song, "E Tu", which combined western pop-rock styles with more obvious Māori influences.^[3] The influence of Upper Hutt Posse's music, and that of other bands experimenting with cross-cultural popular music, led to increasing interest in hybrid Pacific/western pop and rock, particularly among urban Māori.

The new genre's name, and a more solidly defined style, date from the 1994 release of the compilation album

The sound developed further in 1999 with the release of the compilation album Urban Pacifika Records - Pioneers of a Pacifikan Frontier featuring Moizna, AKA Brown, Lost Tribe, and Dei Hamo on Auckland based record label started by Phillip Fuemana called Urban Pasifika Records.

Phillip Fuemana's influence on NZ music was significant, he started a music movement that continues today, he on worked and produced many albums and singles and directed a number of music videos. He was also influential in the development of the independent South Auckland label Dawn Raid Entertainment.

Phillip was one of the founders of the band OMC. Phil started OMC as an outlet for his instrumentals but passed it on to his younger brother Pauly Fuemana who then went on to work with Alan Jansson as a partner, creating the song "How Bizarre", which became an international hit. OMC went on to sell over 4 million records.^[5]

Urban Pasifika artists

Main artists active in the Urban Pasifika subgenre include:

• Che Fu
• King Kapisi
• Dei Hamo
• Adeaze
• Savage
• Deceptikonz
• Nesian Mystik

Other New Zealand bands, such as Fat Freddy's Drop, TrinityRoots, Katchafire, Shapeshifter, and Salmonella Dub include elements of Urban Pasifika in their style.

References