Upper Hutt Posse
Encyclopedia
Upper Hutt Posse is a musical band in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The progenitors of Hiphop music in the South Pacific originally formed as a four piece reggae group in 1985, the Posse emerged at the forefront of the local response to emerging rap culture. Their unique fusion of rap and reggae (in both English and Māori languages) has been an inspirational injection into the national music scene, and a powerful vehicle for their revolutionary socio-political perspectives. Influenced primarily by socio-politically conscious reggae
and rap
music, from Bob Marley
to Gil Scott-Heron
to Public Enemy. The band name is derived from Upper Hutt
, the city in which they formed.
. The song combined African American revolutionary rhetoric with an explicitly Māori frame of reference. It pays homage to the rebel Māori warrior
chiefs of Aotearoa's colonial history, Hone Heke, Te Kooti, and Te Rauparaha.
Releasing their debut album, Against The Flow
in 1989 through Southside Records, the group performed nationally and the following year in Sydney Australia
and in Detroit America
. Against The Flow
consists of sequenced/programmed rap and reggae songs and a political slow jam titled "Stormy Weather", the unique lineup of two rappers, a reggae toaster, a female singer, a male singer, and a DJ allowed main songwriter D Word to compose without having to use 'featured' vocalists outside the group. In 1990, the group toured marae
s (Māori community centers), and supported Public Enemy when that group visited New Zealand, and performed with the ragga artist Macca B
and the Zimbabwe
an group the Bhundu Boys
in Australia. October 1992 saw the completion of a music-documentary, Solidarity, showing the UH Posse's visit to America. Co-directed by Dean Hapeta and Rongotai Lomas, the music-documentary was aired on TV ONE's Marae. With the departure of Darryl Thompson
around this time, and then Teremoana Rapley 1993, who became a member of Moana and the Moahunters
, and a presenter on television series Mai Time, being joined later by MC Beware who had left the group back in 1990. D Word formed Kia Kaha Productions Ltd and continues up to the present day as the leader of UHP through various lineup changes. Upon the release of the movie Once Were Warriors
, the group's single "Ragga Girl" appeared on the soundtrack, with MC Wiya and D Word making cameo appearance
s.
The new lineup in 1994 of live musicians produced the 1995 album Movement In Demand, mixing their signature hip hop style with their reggae roots, and adding the distinctive raggamuffin rap of Wiya. In 2000 album Mā Te Wā saw the re-introduction of founding member Blue Dread, and also Katarina Kawana who had 'jammed' with the group in their formative years in the mid 1980s. Mā Te Wā is a digital reggae album completely in the Māori language. In 2002 UHP released Te Reo Māori Remixes, a 10-track album of earlier favourites remixed and featuring only Māori-language lyrics. This album received a Tui Award at the 2003 NZ Music Awards for 'Best Mana Māori Album'. In 2005, the group released a double album titled Legacy which includes two tracks performed by Te Kupu's daughter Ataahua, notably a Māori-language version of "The Greatest Love Of All". Disc One, Ngāti is predominantly in English language, while Disc Two, Huia, is all in Māori.
In 2007 another 'live' lineup was formed including Maaka McGregor (drums) who had performed live with the group at various gigs since 1995, Dez Mallon (guitar) and Nathan Warren (bass), Te Kupu and MC Wiya made up the five core members at that time which also included additional musicians. In July 2008 the first recording session for a new 'live band' studio album commenced at Trident (now Munki Studios) and in September 2008 "Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou" from this first recording session was released digitally (alongside a music video) as a special song denoting 20 years since the release of debut recording "E Tū". While production continued for the live band album through 2009, production began also on a bi-lingual (Māori & English language) electronica album titled "Tohe" released in July 2010. In October 2011 the "live band" album "Declaration Of Resistance" was released.
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
music, from Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
to Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
to Public Enemy. The band name is derived from Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...
, the city in which they formed.
History
UHP formed as a four-piece reggae band in 1985. Since their inception, Dean Hapeta (also known as D Word or Te Kupu) and the Posse have been fighting racial injustice through their music. In 1988 they released New Zealand's first rap record and their first 12-inch hip hop record, "E Tū", through Jayrem RecordsJayrem Records
Jayrem Records is a New Zealand record company which has been operating since the early 1980s. Initially concentrating on alternative rock and indie music, the Wellington-based company was, for many years, the main rival to South Island based Flying Nun Records, and produced records which had a...
. The song combined African American revolutionary rhetoric with an explicitly Māori frame of reference. It pays homage to the rebel Māori warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
chiefs of Aotearoa's colonial history, Hone Heke, Te Kooti, and Te Rauparaha.
Releasing their debut album, Against The Flow
Against The Flow
Against The Flow was a Christian rock radio show that was broadcasted on DWNUFM 107.5 in Manila in the Philippines. It was broadcast from April 1997 until NU107 closed down in November 2010. ATF returned on the internet through www.theedge.ph in March 2011...
in 1989 through Southside Records, the group performed nationally and the following year in Sydney Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and in Detroit America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Against The Flow
Against The Flow
Against The Flow was a Christian rock radio show that was broadcasted on DWNUFM 107.5 in Manila in the Philippines. It was broadcast from April 1997 until NU107 closed down in November 2010. ATF returned on the internet through www.theedge.ph in March 2011...
consists of sequenced/programmed rap and reggae songs and a political slow jam titled "Stormy Weather", the unique lineup of two rappers, a reggae toaster, a female singer, a male singer, and a DJ allowed main songwriter D Word to compose without having to use 'featured' vocalists outside the group. In 1990, the group toured marae
Marae
A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...
s (Māori community centers), and supported Public Enemy when that group visited New Zealand, and performed with the ragga artist Macca B
Macka B
Macka B is a British-born reggae artist, performer and activist with a career spanning thirty years in the United Kingdom and Jamaica. According to AllMusic.com “Macka B was one of Britain's most influential dancehall toasters.”...
and the Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an group the Bhundu Boys
Bhundu Boys
The Bhundu Boys were a Zimbabwean band that played a mixture of chimurenga music with American rock and roll, disco, country, and pop influences...
in Australia. October 1992 saw the completion of a music-documentary, Solidarity, showing the UH Posse's visit to America. Co-directed by Dean Hapeta and Rongotai Lomas, the music-documentary was aired on TV ONE's Marae. With the departure of Darryl Thompson
DLT (musician)
DLT is a New Zealand DJ, music producer, composer & artist. Born Darryl Thompson in Maraenui, New Zealand.DLT was inspired by an article about rap and breakdancing in Life magazine when he was 16 years of age; he moved to Wellington in the '80s and established himself as a graffiti artist known as...
around this time, and then Teremoana Rapley 1993, who became a member of Moana and the Moahunters
Moana and the Moahunters
Moana and the Moahunters , was a Māori hip-hop and roots group from New Zealand, led by singer Moana that actively promoted Māori culture, traditions and history through their music....
, and a presenter on television series Mai Time, being joined later by MC Beware who had left the group back in 1990. D Word formed Kia Kaha Productions Ltd and continues up to the present day as the leader of UHP through various lineup changes. Upon the release of the movie Once Were Warriors
Once Were Warriors (film)
Once Were Warriors is a 1994 film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel. The film tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence, mostly brought on by family patriarch Jake...
, the group's single "Ragga Girl" appeared on the soundtrack, with MC Wiya and D Word making cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s.
The new lineup in 1994 of live musicians produced the 1995 album Movement In Demand, mixing their signature hip hop style with their reggae roots, and adding the distinctive raggamuffin rap of Wiya. In 2000 album Mā Te Wā saw the re-introduction of founding member Blue Dread, and also Katarina Kawana who had 'jammed' with the group in their formative years in the mid 1980s. Mā Te Wā is a digital reggae album completely in the Māori language. In 2002 UHP released Te Reo Māori Remixes, a 10-track album of earlier favourites remixed and featuring only Māori-language lyrics. This album received a Tui Award at the 2003 NZ Music Awards for 'Best Mana Māori Album'. In 2005, the group released a double album titled Legacy which includes two tracks performed by Te Kupu's daughter Ataahua, notably a Māori-language version of "The Greatest Love Of All". Disc One, Ngāti is predominantly in English language, while Disc Two, Huia, is all in Māori.
In 2007 another 'live' lineup was formed including Maaka McGregor (drums) who had performed live with the group at various gigs since 1995, Dez Mallon (guitar) and Nathan Warren (bass), Te Kupu and MC Wiya made up the five core members at that time which also included additional musicians. In July 2008 the first recording session for a new 'live band' studio album commenced at Trident (now Munki Studios) and in September 2008 "Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou" from this first recording session was released digitally (alongside a music video) as a special song denoting 20 years since the release of debut recording "E Tū". While production continued for the live band album through 2009, production began also on a bi-lingual (Māori & English language) electronica album titled "Tohe" released in July 2010. In October 2011 the "live band" album "Declaration Of Resistance" was released.
Founding Members (1985)
- Dean Hapeta (D Word)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Darryl Thompson (DLT)
- Aaron ThompsonAaron ThompsonAaron M. Thompson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
(Blue Dread)
Members (Against The Flow Album 1989)
- Dean Hapeta (D Word)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Steve Rameka (Acid Dread)
- Darryl Thompson (DLT)
- Teremoana Rapley (Tere)
- Bennett Pomana (MC B-Ware)
- Aaron ThompsonAaron ThompsonAaron M. Thompson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
(Blue Dread)
Key Members (Movement In Demand Album 1995)
- Dean Hapeta (D Word)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Kiki Marama
- Taki Matete
- Earl Roberston
- Rhys Bell (DJ Rhys B)
- Emma PakiEmma PakiEmma Paki is a New Zealand singer/songwriter.She won Most Promising Female Vocalist, Best Song Writer and Best Video at the 1993 New Zealand Music Awards....
Key Members (Mā Te Wā Album 2000)
- Dean Hapeta (D Word / Te Kupu)
- Aaron ThompsonAaron ThompsonAaron M. Thompson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
(Blue Dread) - Katarina Kawana (Voodoo Chile)
Key Members (Te Reo Māori Remixes Album 2002)
- Dean Hapeta (Te Kupu)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Aaron ThompsonAaron ThompsonAaron M. Thompson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
(Blue Dread) - Katarina Kawana (Voodoo Chile)
- Emma PakiEmma PakiEmma Paki is a New Zealand singer/songwriter.She won Most Promising Female Vocalist, Best Song Writer and Best Video at the 1993 New Zealand Music Awards....
- Rhys Bell (DJ Rhys B)
Key Members (Legacy Album 2005)
- Dean Hapeta (Te Kupu)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Ataahua Hapeta-Taereau
- Emma PakiEmma PakiEmma Paki is a New Zealand singer/songwriter.She won Most Promising Female Vocalist, Best Song Writer and Best Video at the 1993 New Zealand Music Awards....
Key Members (Tohe Album 2010)
- Dean Hapeta (Te Kupu)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Ataahua Hapeta-Taereau
- Kiki Marama
Key Members (Declaration Of Resistance Album 2011)
- Dean Hapeta (Te Kupu)
- Matt Hapeta (MC Wiya)
- Ataahua Hapeta-Taereau
- Aaron ThompsonAaron ThompsonAaron M. Thompson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
(Gnrl Blue Ngāti Dredd I) - Des Mallon
- Jeff HendersonJeff HendersonJeff Henderson is an award-winning chef, bestselling author and popular public speaker. He is also a former felon, having served nearly a decade in prison for drugs. Having run kitchens as Executive Chef at Café Bellagio and Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, he became an inspiration to others.In 2001,...
- Jeremy Coubrough
- Additional Musicians are not noted above
Discography
| Date of Release | Title | Label | Charted | Certification | Catalog Number | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albums | ||||||
| 1989 1989 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR... |
Against The Flow Against The Flow Against The Flow was a Christian rock radio show that was broadcasted on DWNUFM 107.5 in Manila in the Philippines. It was broadcast from April 1997 until NU107 closed down in November 2010. ATF returned on the internet through www.theedge.ph in March 2011... |
- | - | |||
| 1995 1995 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident.... |
Movement In Demand | - | - | |||
| 2000 2000 in music See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List.... |
Ma Te Wa Ma Te Wa Ma Te Wa is an album released in 2000 by New Zealand hip-hop group, Upper Hutt Posse.-Track listing:#Te Whakamihi#UHP#Matakipanui Ai Au#Te Kaiwjaitiri#Te Pokaikaha#Nga Tamariki O Te Ra#Te Mea Ngaro... |
- | - | |||
| 2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI... |
Te Reo Maori Remixes Te Reo Maori Remixes Te Reo Maori Remixes is a remix album released in 1998 by New Zealand hip-hop group, Upper Hutt Posse.-Disc one:#"Te Hono Whakakoro"#"E Tu"#"Kotiro Maori E"#"Tangata Whenua"#"Ka Huri Matapo"#"He Toa E Hikoi Ana"#"Te Rangi Paroro"#"Kore Raru I Te Pati"... |
- | - | |||
| 2004 2004 in music See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol.... |
Dedicated '88-'91 Dedicated '88-'91 Dedicated '88–'91 is a greatest hits album released in 2000 by New Zealand hip-hop group, Upper Hutt Posse.-Track listing:#Intro#Clockin' The Time#Get With It#Flam The Bass#Basketball#Do It Like This#Stormy Weather... |
- | - | |||
| 2005 2005 in music -Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:... |
Legacy Legacy (Upper Hutt Posse album) Legacy is an album released in 2005 by New Zealand hip-hop group, Upper Hutt Posse.-Disc one:#"Ngati"#"Overcome"#"Skin Nah Kalla We"#"Legacy"#"New Generation"#"Warmongers"#"Hold I True"#"Ganja Wars"#"Sight Divine"#"Great Crime"#"E Te Iwi"... |
- | - | |||
| 2010 2010 in music 2010 in music may refer to:*2010 in American music*2010 in Australian music*2010 in British music*2010 in Canadian music*2010 in European music *2010 in Irish music*2010 in Japanese music*2010 in New Zealand music... |
Tohe | - | - | |||
| 2011 | Declaration Of Resistance | - | - | |||
Singles
| Year | Single | Album | NZ Singles Chart | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "E Tū" | - | - | |
| 1993 | "Ragga Girl" | - | - | |