Talking Points with Tipene (3rd Sept 2021)
Written by Admin on September 7, 2021
TALKING POINTS on Base FM – hosted by Ian Beatmaster Wright
Thanks to NZ On Air Music
Date: 3rd Sept 2021
Guest reviewer: Tipene
Featured release: Dam Native – Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted
Released: 1997
Featured track #1: Behold My Kool Style
Featured track #2: Extremeties
Featured track #3: The Son
Tipene, has been rapping for roughly two decades but has mostly stayed out of the limelight since he began releasing tracks around seven years ago. This is partly due to being based in rural Hawkes Bay, but mostly due to the man himself, an artist who doesn’t go looking for celebrity, choosing instead to focus purely on his music.
Dam Native’s first album, Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted is widely considered one of the best hip hop albums ever to have come out of Aotearoa. The lyricism of lead rapper Danny Haimona fused hip hop attitude with a deep knowledge of Tikanga Māori and he fronted a live crew that sometimes extended out to a dozen rappers, singers, and musicians.