- King Kapisi
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King Kapisi Birth name Bill Urale Born Wellington,New Zealand Origin Wellington, New Zealand Genres hip hop Years active 1990s–present Labels overstayer Website www.kingkapisi.net King Kapisi is a New Zealand Hip hop recording artist. He was the first Hip hop artist in New Zealand to receive the prestigious Silver Scroll Award at the APRA Awards for Songwriter of the Year for his single Reverse Resistance in 1999, which followed on the popular release of his debut single Sub-Cranium Feeling. Kapisi is of Samoan origin.
Contents
Music career
He was signed up as an artist with Festival Mushroom Records (NZ). In 2000 he released his critically acclaimed debut album Savage Thoughts, followed by a second album, 2nd Round Testament, released in New Zealand and Australia in 2003. Local sales for both albums hit the gold status mark. King Kapisi also achieved gold with his single U Can't Resist Us, featuring New Zealand hip hop icon Che Fu in 2003.
International acts
King Kapisi has performed alongside Janet Jackson, Moby, The Black Eyed Peas, Beastie Boys, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many more. He has performed at almost every major music festival and event in New Zealand as well as tours to Australia, Japan, Fiji, Hawaii, Tonga, New York, London, Germany, Ireland and Norway.
In 2003, King Kapisi represented New Zealand at the Central Park, New York City birthday celebrations where he was also invited to play at the first old school hip-hop reunion in Crotona Park, South Bronx. He played alongside legends such as The Furious Five, Cold Crush Brothers, Jazzy Jay and The Rocksteady Crew. King Kapisi was also given the opportunity to record a track with the legendary Kay Gee from the Cold Crush Brothers. The European leg of his 2003 overseas trip saw him perform a showcase at the international music conference POPKOMM in Cologne, Germany. He also spent time in Kaiserslautern, Germany recording with Germany based American producer, Smitty K.
In 2004 , Kapisi was invited by the German government as part of its new initiative scheme to promote cultural exchanges between New Zealand and Germany. Having supported German rap star MC Clueso in a New Zealand tour, Kapisi headed back to Germany to attend the POPKOMM music conference for a second time with Goethe-Institute playing host. Kapisi had the opportunity to record two tracks with German music producers Trickski and Slope from the Sonar Kollectiv record company. Kapisi also produced tracks for various local hip hop artists in Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, Toronto and Sydney.
Awards
King Kapisi was nominated for 13 awards at the 2001 New Zealand B.Net Awards and took home seven of the coveted prizes including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video. His visually striking music videos, some of which the hip hop artist directed himself, have also won numerous awards including Flying Fish Music Video Awards, Mai Time Television New Zealand and Juice TV. His first music video Sub-Cranium Feeling, shot underwater and directed and produced by his two older sisters, has become iconic in New Zealand music, and received the New Zealand On Air Centennial Award.
Lyrics
King Kapisi's music and lyrics raise issues relevant to Pacific Island people living in New Zealand. He often challenges the role of Christianity and the church in contemporary Samoan society which is deeply devout. King Kapisi believes his music to be deeply connected to the culture of the Pacific people.[1]
King Kapisi attempts to keep his music "real" by rapping about his Pacific heritage and the hip hop scene. He uses hip hop to promote the message of "keeping it real" through your culture, learning your language, and knowing "where you are from." [2] Kapisi's lyrics and imagery have explored his complex post-Diaspora Pacific immigrant identity. He is a prime example of how New Zealand MC's are able to rap about their Diasporic identity in the text of their rap lyrics. Kapisi is now reaching out to the bigger global market. The transfer of Samoan hip hop identity to the US is something that already exists with artists who have settled and embraced their cultural heritage.[3]
Samoa
King Kapisi is from Samoa and New Zealand. His extended family is from the island of Savaii. His family are from the villages of Fagamalo, Matavai & Faletagaloa, Falealupo and Safaatoa in Lefaga district.
Overstayer Label
In 2002, he started his own urban streetwear clothing label Overstayer Clothing. The name Overstayer refers to the infamous Dawn Raid era during the 1970s in New Zealand, when Pacific Islander overstayers were the prime target by the government using controversial means, even though the highest number of overstayers in the country at the time were Europeans. In 2003 and 2004, King Kapisi was awarded the Westfield Style Pasifika Designer Award giving the hip hop artist the opportunity to showcase his street label in the coveted international annual Air New Zealand Fashion Week in 2003. Overstayer Clothing was the first local street label to be sold in Farmers (department stores) in New Zealand.
Discography
Date Title Label Charted Country Catalog Number 2001 Savage Thoughts - - 2003 2nd Round Testament - - 2005 Dominant Species FMR - - 338765 References
- ^ The Space Music Feature: King Kapisi & the rise of Samoan Hip Hop
- ^ Zemke-White, Kirsten. 'How many dudes you know roll like this?': the re-presentation of hip hop tropes in New Zealand rap music' Issue 10. The Visualization of the Subaltern in World Music. On Musical Contestation Strategies (Part 1) http://www.imageandnarrative.be/worldmusica/kirstenzemkewhite.htm
- ^ Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200
External links
Categories:- New Zealand rappers
- New Zealand musicians
- New Zealand people of Samoan descent
- Samoan artists
- Living people
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