Aotearoa Hip Hop Podcast - Trailer
Aotearoa HipHop: The Music, The People, The History drops Friday 19 November!
00:00 / 01:10

This is a deep dive into Aotearoa’s Hip Hop history.

From the pioneers importing beats in the early 80’s, to Stevie Wonder partying with one of our unsung heroes, DJ Teepee. -You'll hear first-hand about Hollywood A-listers running all-ages clubs on Symonds St, the first hip-hop radio shows that inspired Che Fu, OMC’s world domination, Christchurch rappers dealing with white supremacist skinheads, Dawn Raid hustling t-shirts at the Otara markets, the first Hip Hop Summits, Scribe setting records, and more.

It’s an epic journey, told by the people who were there.

Phil Bell AKA DJ Sir-Vere dives into his contact book and calls in favours to capture the stories from the people he’s lived his life with - the NZ Hip Hop community.  He’s left no stone unturned to get the most important stories from the people who lived them, flying them in, and traveling to interview them in the very places where history was made.

Listen to the episodes below or via the rova app available on iOS and Android, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Phil Bell aka DJ Sir-Vere

Host

There is no-one more qualified to front this project than Phil.

Recognised in 2018 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music, Phil is a rabid consumer of podcast content, and literally in his words: ‘fronting this series is a dream come true.’ Phil has drawn on his 35 years of experience in the NZ Hip Hop scene; leveraging his respect from within the music industry to create a project the quality of which has never been seen before.

A South Pacific Hip-Hop pioneer, key member of legendary New Zealand DJ crew S.A.S, and a universally respected nightclub, radio and mix CD DJ/host in New Zealand, Phil Bell AKA DJ Sir-Vere has spent decades extensively touring Australia and New Zealand, resulting in over 15 released editions of his never-ending Major Flavours Mix CD series.

With over a quarter of a million Major Flavours CDs sold in New Zealand and Australia, a number one on the Australian ARIA's chart, multiple industry awards on both sides of the ditch, and credit for helping launch the careers of Scribe, Savage and P-Money, DJ Sir- Vere's track record speaks volumes.

Martyn Pepperell

Writer

Martyn Pepperell is a freelance journalist, copywriter, broadcaster and DJ from Wellington, New Zealand. Over the last decade, his music writing and mixshows have been published and presented internationally by Bandcamp Daily, Dazed Digital, Dublab, i-D, Goethe-Institut, Mixmag, Norient, NTS, Radio Al-Hara, Radio Rea, Test Pressing, and The Wire. In recent years, he has served as an arts funding application and laureate award assessor for Creative New Zealand and the New Zealand Arts Foundation. Martyn and Philip Bell first worked together in the late 2000s when Phil was editing the seminal Aotearoa Hip-Hop magazine, Back2Basics.