AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

             New Zealand society experienced significant political and cultural shifts during the period of the 1970s, which then led to the reconfiguration of the country's music culture in response to these changes within society. Music genres that have become popularized in New Zealand pop culture such as hip-hop and reggae have allowed many Polynesian musicians to diverge from the conventional themes of gang violence and drug abuse commonly associated with hip-hop and reggae. The Upper Hutt Posse (1988) was originally a four piece reggae group formed as a local response to the emergence of rap culture pioneered by African American hip hop artists. This essay will explore the ways in which the Upper Hutt Posse's unique fusion of genres and languages combined rap and reggae styles along with English and Maori lyrics to express their own socio-political views. Through their first popular single E Tu (1988), the band constructed a song that became a direct response to the oppression and mistreatment of the Maori people throughout the Maori protest movement.

 

            Mitchell describes the ways in which "Maori rappers ... adopt the trappings of hip hop culture and ... explore its affinities with indigenous Maori musical and rhetorical forms", which allowed for more Polynesian artists to borrow "freely from the musical styles of the [hip hop] genre" (50). In Upper Hutt Posse's case, they incorporate "styles of hip hop to express Maori resistance and sovereignty", which is integrated throughout E Tu with the notion that "rap becomes subservient to an expression of Maori philosophy and militan[cy]" (51). Rap music in New Zealand effectively "exploited one of hip hop's greatest strengths" (Zemke 96) as an oppositional force that enabled the growth of culture, allowing Maori communities to stand in solidarity against governmental powers. Hapeta explains his reason for giving rise to the genre of 'haka rap' by saying that "we got kapahaka songs about self-pride, but we ain't got no rap songs about that" (cited in Panday 110), which then motivated him to pioneer this social movement through the song E Tu as a proud representation of his cultural heritage.

 

            The song's title "e tu" (translating to "stand up" in Maori) symbolizes the song's overall political message that reinforces the notion of opposing the forces of oppression. Bob Marley's hit song Get Up, Stand Up (1973), explored similar social topics based on the idea of standing up for the rights of minority groups being marginalised within society. Through the lyrics of E Tu, the band's perspectives on Maori culture and politics is explicitly conveyed through specific Maori phrases like "kia mau ki to Maori", urging the Maori listener to maintain their cultural identity. E Tu further perpetuates the conflicts between the Maori and the Pakeha through the song's lyrics saying "white rule and injustice go hand in hand", associating the colonizers with the injustice inflicted upon the Maori. This idea of cultural injustice is explored further as the song progresses with "don't forget those who've fought before, our struggles continue more and more", emphasizing the hardships experienced by the people living in the pre-colonized world of the British Empire. In conjunction with themes of cultural injustice, the following lyrics that read: "they falsely own our land so they really don't, we've been ripped off man so shut up I won't", highlights issues that had become prevalent within the 70s and have remained as a core issue for the Maori, where the Pakeha had contributed to the selling, purchasing and ownership of indigenous land to outside buyers.

 

Upper Hutt Posse then reinforce their message of seeking equality by saying "don't let no one stand on you" as an empowering sentiment. The song pays homage to the idea of the 'rangatira' (Maori chief) with references to influential Maori figures like Te Rauparaha and Hone Heke, who exemplified this sense of pride through the communication of their Maori cultural identity.  E Tu had interwoven the issues affecting Maori culture, language and politics in an attempt to voice their demands on the social injustice threatening the Maori people through the relatability of hip hop. The incorporation of African American hip hop as a framework for externalising their frustrations towards the mistreatment of Maori showed remnants of other minority groups around the globe, who used similar methods to achieve their own political agendas. This idea of an anti-establishment attitude towards the government through the influence of rap became the motivation for Upper Hutt Posse to initiate an act of solidarity in favour of their culture and rights. 

 

            In relation to the song's socio-political effects, the issues of land trade were highlighted in the occupation of Bastion Point (1977-78), which stands as a significant event in New Zealand history.  The conflict of land ownership became problematic for the government, and such conflicts were thematically linked to particular songs of Maori empowerment. The selling of Bastion Point violated the sense of ownership that was claimed by the original iwi (tribe), which in many ways became vocalized through empowering songs that emphasized issues around Maori injustice.  Upper Hutt Posse's E Tu has made a cultural impact within Maori communities, and the protest at Bastion Point for example symbolised the beginning of an opposing Maori stance towards the Crown's treatment of land control. The emergence of the Maori protest movement became the catalyst for the production of Maori empowerment songs. The land's eventual return to its tribal roots ironically coincided with the release of E Tu in 1988, which allegorically demonstrates the potential impact our music culture can make through the political settlements of land trade.

 

           The cultural and political movement between the 1970s and 1980s created "an environment in which young people of many backgrounds struggled to feel consequential amid the ravages of neoliberal economic restructuring" (Henderson 329), which reflects the challenges facing the Maori people within an oppressive society and culture. The idea of incorporating musical styles, evidenced within E Tu, to perpetuate UHP's political views and show solidarity for their culture generated a profound effect on New Zealand's music culture.

 

Works Cited

 

Hapeta, Dean. "E Tu."  Upper Hutt Posse. Non-album single. Jayrem Records, 1988. CD

Henderson, April K. "The I and the We: Individuality, Collectivity, and Samoan Artistic Responses to Cultural Change." The Contemporary Pacific, Vol. 28, No. 2 (2016) 316-345, Print.

Marley, Bob. "Get Up, Stand Up". Bob Marley and the Wailers. Burnin', 1973. CD

Mitchell, Tony. "Doin' damage in my native language: The use of "resistance vernaculars" in hip hop in France, Italy, Aotearoa/New Zealand." Popular Music and Society, Vol. 24. No. 3 (2000) 41-45, Print.

Panday, Aruna. "From Kapa Haka to Hip Hop: Maori Popular Music in Aoteatoa/New Zealand." Master of Arts. Carleton University, 2010,

https://curve.carleton.ca/system/files/etd/1775c4eb-387e-4739-b210-b4cd081e6c05/etd_pdf/f18647c5cd5a7feee97f341f4831bf29/panday-fromkapahakatohiphopmaoripopularmusicinaotearoanew.pdf .

Zemke, Kirsten. "Nesian Styles (Re)Present R'N'B: The Appropriation, Transformation and Realization of Contemporary R' N'B with Hip Hop by Urban Pasifika Groups in Aotearoa" SITES: New Series, Vol. 2. No. 1 (2005) 94-123, Print.