"In the Neighbourhood" is the 1994 debut single by the New Zealand hip hop duo

Sisters Underground Sisters Underground was a New Zealand hip hop and R&B duo best known for their 1994 single "In the Neighbourhood". Background Group members Brenda Makamoeafi and Hassanah Iroegbu originally met aged 13, at Hillary College in Ōtara, South A ...

. The song peaked at #6 in the New Zealand singles charts and is now regarded as a landmark single both in the emerging South Auckland music scene of the 1990s and for New Zealand music as a whole.

Background

The lyrics were written by high school friends Brenda Makamoeafi and Hassanah Iroegbu. The duo had performed around Auckland as "Sisters Underground" before working with producer Alan Jansson, who recorded two Sisters Underground tracks for the ''Proud'' compilation album. Jansson produced instrumentation for the track - hip hop beats and acoustic guitars.

Commercial performance

The single charted at number 6 on the New Zealand singles chart, charting for 12 weeks in the winter of 1994. The song was also released in Australia, where it peaked at number 62 and spent 10 weeks on the

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

top 100 singles chart. The track received airplay on Australian youth radio network

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

, and was voted number 81 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1994. The song also reached the top 10 of the Italian dance chart.

Reception

The song gained significant recognition across New Zealand. It was nominated for single of the year at the 1995

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

. While Sisters Underground won most promising group at the 1995 Awards, Iroegbu moved to America soon after and the duo did not release any further singles. In 2001 the song was voted #58 in the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time list. The song was included on the ''

Nature's Best 2 ''Nature's Best 2'' is a two-disc compilation album of 35 New Zealand popular music songs, numbers 31-65 on the APRA 75th Anniversary Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time. See '' Nature's Best'' for more information on the selection process of thi ...

'' compilation CD released in 2002, and the music video was included on the '' Nature's Best DVD'' released in 2004. In 2002, TV2 used the song for their station promotion. Alan Jansson was commissioned to remix it, with Makamoeafi and Iroegbu reuniting to re-record the vocals. The remixed version was released as a single and received radio airplay. At the

2013 APRA Silver Scroll Awards The 2013 APRA Silver Scroll Awards were held on Tuesday 15 October 2013 at Vector Arena in Auckland, celebrating excellence in New Zealand songwriting. This is the first year the ceremony was held at Vector Arena, moving from its previous locatio ...

, the duo reunited to perform the song as the closing number of the night.

Music video

A music video was made for the song and directed by photographers Greg Semu and Kerry Brown. It was shot around the Māngere Bridge neighbourhood in

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though n ...

. It was nominated for best music video at the 1995 New Zealand Film and Television Awards.

Track listings

CD single and 7" (1994) # "In the Neighbourhood" (Radio Version) # "In the Neighbourhood" (Pacifican Wave Mix) # "In the Neighbourhood" (Uptown Mix) # "In the Neighbourhood" (Pacifican Acoustic Mix) CD single (2003) # "In the Neighbourhood" (2003 TV2 Mix) # "In the Neighbourhood" (Original Mix) # "In the Neighbourhood" (Alternative 2003 Remix)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Music video at NZ On Screen
{{authority control APRA Award winners 1994 debut singles Songs about New Zealand 1994 songs