Upper Hutt Posse (UHP) is a

musical band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

. The progenitors of hip hop music in the South Pacific originally formed as a four-piece

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

group in 1985, the Posse emerged at the forefront of the local response to emerging

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

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 Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician ...

to Public Enemy. The band name is derived from

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

, the part of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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 the first rap record and music-video in Aotearoa (NZ) ''E Tū'', through

Jayrem Records Jayrem Records is a New Zealand record company founded by James ('Jim') Moss in 1975 under the name Record and Cassette Distribution. Moss changed the name to Jayrem Records in 1981 and released the first singles on that label in 1982. Moss state ...

. The song combined African American revolutionary rhetoric with an explicitly

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

frame of reference. It pays homage to Māori warrior chiefs resistant of British colonialism, Hone Heke, Te Kooti, and Te Rauparaha.Mitchell, Tony. "Kia Kaha! (Be Strong!): Māori and Pacific Islander Hip-hop in Aotearoa-New Zealand." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 280-305. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 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, U.S.A. ''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'' (Māori community centers), and supported Public Enemy when they visited Aotearoa, and performed with the ragga artist Macca B and the Zimbabwean group the

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. Their style became known as jit, and is quite popular across Africa, with some international succe ...

in Australia. October 1992 saw the completion of a music-documentary, ''Solidarity'', showing UHPosse's visit to the U.S., 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 Tere Veronica Rapley (born 1973), generally known as Teremoana Rapley, is a New Zealand musician, television presenter and television producer, best known for her work in the 1990s with Upper Hutt Posse and Moana and the Moahunters. In the 2 ...

1993, who became a member of

Moana and the Moahunters Moana Maree Maniapoto (born 22 June 1961) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and documentary maker. Widely considered one of New Zealand's most successful indigenous acts, her music is described as a fusion of traditional Māori haka, chants a ...

, and a presenter on television series ''Mai Time'', being joined later by MC Beware who had left the group in late 1989. 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'' is New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling first novel, published in 1990. It tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and portrays the reality of domestic violence in New Zealand. It was the basis of a 199 ...

'', the group's single ''Ragga Girl'' appeared on the soundtrack, with MC Wiya and D Word making cameo appearances. In 1993 UHP performed at the inaugural Polynesian Music Festival held in Rarotonga. A new lineup in 1994 of live musicians produced the 1995 album ''Movement in Demand'', mixing their signature Hiphop 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 Ātaahua, 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 Studio 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 bilingual (Māori and English language) electronica album titled ''Tohe'' released in July 2010. Then in October 2011 the live band album ''Declaration of Resistance'' was released, featuring images on its front cover from Te Kupu's six-part rap documentary ''Ngātahi – Know The Links''. Supported by the most extensive touring by the band to date, with Te Kupu fronting the band on electric guitar and MC Wiya on bass (a significant revamp), performing with a fluid lineup of live musicians. In November 2018 Upper Hutt Posse were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa. Te Kupu selected eighteen past and present band members, and additional musicians whose contributions to the group warranted their being recognised: Dean Hapeta, Matthew Hapeta, Aaron Thompson, Darryl Thomson, Bennet Pomana, Teremoana Rapley, Steve Rameka, George Hubbard, Earl Robertson, Kiki Marama, Taki Matete, Katarina Kawana, Ātaahua Hapeta-Taereau, Maaka McGregor, Emma Paki, Des Mallon, Jeff Henderson, Kevin Rangihuna. In January 2019 the first recording session for the next UHP album is held with Earl Robertson drumming to music sequenced by Te Kupu, followed by further sessions with drummers Ruben Das Gonzales, and then Riki Gooch, as well as recording sessions held at Matakahi Studio with various live musicians pulled in by Te Kupu, who himself plays bass, guitars, piano, synthesizer, alto saxophone and percussion, creating what he says is probably "the most musically-realised UHP album yet." 2021 will see ''Say Do Don't Do People'' the first single released prior to the album.

Upper Hutt Posse lineups

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

Aotearoa Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as ''New Zealand Music Awards'' (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in

New Zealand music The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including b ...

and have been presented annually since 1965. ! , - , 1989 , , Upper Hutt Posse , , Most Promising Group, , , , rowspan="3", , - , 2003 , , Upper Hutt Posse (Te Reo Maori Remixes) , , Mana Māori , , , - , 2012 , , ''Declaration of Resistance'' , , Mana Māori , , , - , 2018 , , Upper Hutt Posse , , New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , , , , , -

References

External links

AudioCulture profile
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Te Kupu
{{Authority control New Zealand hip hop groups Musical groups established in 1985 1985 establishments in New Zealand Māori-language singers