Upper Hutt Posse (UHP) are a New Zealand hip hop group formed in Upper Hutt, Wellington, in 1985. Upper Hutt Posse are one of the earliest New Zealand hip hop groups, known for their fusion of rap and reggae in both English and Māori. Prominent members include DLT, Dean "Te Kupu" Hapeta and Teremoana Rapley.
New Zealand hip hop derives from the wider hip hop cultural movement originating amongst African Americans in the United States. Like the parent movement, New Zealand hip hop consists of four parts: rapping, DJing, graffiti art and breakdancing. The first element of hip hop to reach New Zealand was breakdancing, which gained notoriety after the release of the 1979 movie The Warriors. The first hip hop hit single, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, became a hit in New Zealand when it was released there in 1980, a year after it was released in the United States. By the middle of the 1980s, breakdancing and graffiti art were established in urban areas like Wellington and Christchurch. By the early 1990s, hip hop became a part of mainstream New Zealand culture.
Urban Pasifika is a New Zealand subgenre of hip hop, that developed primarily among Pasifika New Zealanders in South Auckland. Drawn from alternative hip hop and R&B influences, it was quickly blended with Pacific Island or Māori instrumentation and traditional songwriting and singing and rapping in a variety of Polynesian languages, such as Māori, Samoan, Niuean and Tongan. The genre's genesis in the 1980s blossomed into a unique, globally enrapturing cultural scene in its homeland of Auckland, especially in the next decade. Urban Pasifika is one of the most popular music genres to arise from New Zealand, and helped cement Auckland's reputation on the world stage as a major cultural centre, and the most ethnically Polynesian city in the world.
The following lists events that happened during 1992 in New Zealand.
Moana Maree Maniapoto 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 and taonga pūoro, with contemporary soul, reggae and classical styles. Moana was briefly married to New Zealand politician and radio personality Willie Jackson, during which time she was known as Moana Maniapoto-Jackson; they divorced in 2001. In 2016, Moana was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
Bill Rangi Urale, known by his stage name King Kapisi, is a New Zealand hip hop recording artist. He was the first hip hop artist in New Zealand to receive the Silver Scroll Award at the APRA Awards for Songwriter of the Year for his single Reverse Resistance in 1999.
DLT or Darryl Leigh Thomson, is a New Zealand hip hop DJ, music producer and composer as well as a visual artist. He was a founding member of Upper Hutt Posse (UHP). As a solo artist DLT issued two albums, The True School (1996) and Altruism (2000) – both peaked on the New Zealand albums chart top 20. His most successful single, "Chains" (1996), featuring vocals by Che Fu, reached number one on the New Zealand singles chart.
Murray Ernest Cammick is a New Zealand popular music journalist, photographer and record label founder. He has been a significant figure in New Zealand popular music since the late 1970s.
4 Corners is a New Zealand Hip-Hop group formed in 1998. Their songs On the Down Low and By My Side charted on New Zealand's top 40 in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Coco Solid is a singer, songwriter, director and producer. She is of Māori, Pacific and German heritage. Her musical style is a mixture of hip hop, disco and electronica. She created the animated television series Aroha Bridge.
Kas Futialo, known by the stage name Tha Feelstyle, is a New Zealand hip hop artist of Samoan descent. His first album was Break It To Pieces in 2004. Tha Feelstyle was born in Samoa and moved to New Zealand in the 1980s. He raps in English as well as the Samoan language.
Sima Urale is a New Zealand filmmaker. Her films explore social and political issues and have been screened worldwide. She is one of the few Polynesian film directors in the world with more than 15 years in the industry. Her accolades include the Silver Lion for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival for O Tamaiti (1996).
Vaosa ole Tagaloa Makerita Urale is a documentary director and playwright, and a leading figure in contemporary Polynesian theatre in New Zealand. She has produced landmark productions in the performing arts. She is the writer of the play Frangipani Perfume, the first Pacific play written by a woman for an all-female cast. Working in different art mediums, Urale also works in film and television. She is the director of the political documentary Children of the Revolution that won the Qantas Award (2008) for Best Māori Programme.
The bNet NZ Music Awards was an annual New Zealand music award presentation organised by New Zealand student radio network bNet from 1998 to 2007.
Mark James "Slave" Williams and Otis Frizzell are a New Zealand duo known as hip hop MCs and television and radio presenters. Together they are known for their musical work in the 1990s as MC OJ & Rhythm Slave and Joint Force, and their radio and television work in later years.
The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
Ria Hall is a Māori recording artist, singer-songwriter, television presenter, and political candidate. She has released two solo albums, Rules of Engagement (2017), which topped the Official New Zealand Music Chart shortly after its release, and Manawa Wera (2020). Her work reflects Māori society and history, and Hall regularly sings in Māori as well as English.
"Kua Makona", is the debut single from Moana Maniapoto. Produced by Dalvanius Prime and sung in the Māori language, the song was used in a campaign for the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand. In 1993, the song was re-recorded as a pop-reggae version entitled "Kua Makona ", released as a single by Maniapoto's group Moana & the Moa Hunters. This version was later included on their debut album Tahi (1993).
Mina Ripia is a New Zealand Māori musician.
