Breakin Wreckwordz
By Emma Philpott, NZ Musician, June/July 2004 (Vol: 11, No: 6)
New Zealand hip hop is starting to cross over into the pop radio market in a major way. Even Australian radio is seeing the light with Scribe's Not Many remix only just missing out on a Top 20 position. The collective of Auckland mcs working under the Breakin Wreckwordz label don't seem too concerned about the possibility of mainstream success however - they want to keep their creative integrity intact.
While living in Melbourne in 2001, Cyphanetik (Jared Abbot) and Tourettes (Dom Hoey) put together a couple of tracks under the name Insomniacs. Out of those sessions came Hey Kids, which confidently slagged record labels with pro-independent sentiments like "I'd rather captivate than capitalise".
The duo moved back to NZ in 2002 and, putting their money where their mouths were, started the Breakin Wreckwordz label. Jared's place in Insomniacs was replaced by MC Muse, so he could concentrate on running the business.
Those impeccably delivered lines also captured the spirit of the record label as Jared explains.
"We didn't want to be a label that was taking trends from America and reproducing them in New Zealand saying, 'We're the first to do it in NZ like this' or anything. We just went off on our own tangent, in a hip hop way, rather than 'In America they're rapping like this, we should do a song like this'. We just try to keep doing different stuff."
Hey Kids spent a dominating six weeks at number one on the bFM listener-voted Top 10 and became a finalist for Best Unreleased Song at the 2002 bNet awards. The student radio network has been supportive of the label's output since.
"Pretty much everyone involved in the business side of the label are artists too," says Jared. "No one gets paid for the business side of things, everyone on the label is involved in the running of it too. And it's just non-profit in that sense, it's just set up for the artists, really. It is run pretty much non-profit, like there's no money in it, we're not bankrolling on a budget."
"At the same time, if we sold 2000 copies, I'm sure we'd get some money," says Dom.
"We want to push good music, rather than go, 'If that isn't going to sell more than 3000 copies, we're not going to release that', y'know what I mean?" continues Jared.
'Breakin Wreckwordz', the compilation album, was released in May by Shock Records NZ, thanks to a relationship fostered by Shock Records label manager Lio Nikolao. Lio heard an early Cyphanetik track I am the Slime on hiphopnz.com while Jared was still based in Melbourne.
"Lio started emailing me," says Jared. "And was like 'Send us a demo'. At the time all we had recorded was Hey Kids and I am the Slime and we were saying, 'Oh yeah, we're going to get you one' for ages..." he laughs.
"We were like 'We're sending you a demo next month' and then we'd record some stuff and be like 'Oh it's cack, we can't send that.' We finally got around to it though."
They signed a distribution deal for the first album early in 2004, and Shock will have first option on the next projects.
The sleeve of the compilation details two other releases scheduled for this year - an EP from JB and (ex-Dubious Bros MC) Tyna and the much-anticipated Insomniacs debut album. The future will no doubt see releases from the other three groups currently on the roster - Usual Suspects, Oddballs, and PNC - but releasing a collective effort was the logical first step.
"It makes it easier to establish all the groups at once," explains Jared. "It puts everyone out there, and then from the feedback that we get back, then we can see. Like I said, we're not on a big budget. If we just put out an Insomniacs album then it's hard to go out and establish the next group and the next group and the next group. Whereas if you do a compilation, then we get all our groups out there at once, then we get the income back from the album, and that allows everyone to have money, for everyone to start going on with that push."
Meeting up through the tight Aotearoa hip hop scene, the artists originally hailed from all over - Hamilton, Auckland, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Upper Hutt, Wanganui - but all have relocated to Auckland for the cause.
"Everyone is real tight too, we are like a big crew. The only reason that we wouldn't be a big crew is 'cos, trying to get 12 people together each time we do a show, or a practise or stuff is ridiculous!" laughs Jared. "But we all hang out with each other and stuff, we are like a big crew that's just got different groups inside it."
They barely squabble over music to rhyme over - plenty of beats are supplied from upcoming producers both inhouse and outside the group. Much of the album was produced by Saia from Usual Suspects, but it also has tracks produced by the likes of Red Bull Academy attendee Jeremy Toy, and Auckland DJ 4130. The quality of the beats has quickly improved too:
"As you get more well known you get more given to you, y'know," says Dom. "You couldn't even get good beats three or four years ago without paying money. Now it's like, everywhere, there's people making beats, it's crazy."
The Wreckwordz roster has also made a mark on the freestyle MC Battle scene with Cyphanetik, Tyna and Tourettes all placing well in the last few year's MC Battle for Supremacy competitions.
"It's a totally different way of thinking," says Dom.
"It's like a sport, aye," agrees Jared. "If you are playing rugby, you've got touch with the boys in the park, and then you've got your major league games, and it's like if the games aren't fun, it becomes like a job. I enjoy battling on the street, or at gigs, but when it comes to battle competitions, you've just got to go out there and work hard and prove yourself."
Outside competitions, the Breakin Wreckwordz group have become a regular part of the live scene in Auckland. They were a regular fixation at a monthly hip hop night at inner city venue The Temple before it shut its doors last year, and agree their live show has become more organised with the practice. The addition of ex-Wellingtonian DJ Kase will also help the live show tenfold.
"With that many people, sometimes you're not exactly sure who's going to make it, but now everyone's living up here, it's a lot easier," says Jared.
While the first release isn't being snapped up at the same rate as local legends Scribe and P-Money, it's not their style anyway.
"The label, from the start, was never planned to be an empire," assures Jared. "We just wanted something where we had full control about how we presented ourselves. It was always just that we wanted to have a label that represented the people we trust would be like completely real hip hop and not just some image put out there."
By Emma Philpott, NZ Musician, June/July 2004 (Vol: 11, No: 6)
New Zealand hip hop is starting to cross over into the pop radio market in a major way. Even Australian radio is seeing the light with Scribe's Not Many remix only just missing out on a Top 20 position. The collective of Auckland mcs working under the Breakin Wreckwordz label don't seem too concerned about the possibility of mainstream success however - they want to keep their creative integrity intact.
While living in Melbourne in 2001, Cyphanetik (Jared Abbot) and Tourettes (Dom Hoey) put together a couple of tracks under the name Insomniacs. Out of those sessions came Hey Kids, which confidently slagged record labels with pro-independent sentiments like "I'd rather captivate than capitalise".
The duo moved back to NZ in 2002 and, putting their money where their mouths were, started the Breakin Wreckwordz label. Jared's place in Insomniacs was replaced by MC Muse, so he could concentrate on running the business.
Those impeccably delivered lines also captured the spirit of the record label as Jared explains.
"We didn't want to be a label that was taking trends from America and reproducing them in New Zealand saying, 'We're the first to do it in NZ like this' or anything. We just went off on our own tangent, in a hip hop way, rather than 'In America they're rapping like this, we should do a song like this'. We just try to keep doing different stuff."
Hey Kids spent a dominating six weeks at number one on the bFM listener-voted Top 10 and became a finalist for Best Unreleased Song at the 2002 bNet awards. The student radio network has been supportive of the label's output since.
"Pretty much everyone involved in the business side of the label are artists too," says Jared. "No one gets paid for the business side of things, everyone on the label is involved in the running of it too. And it's just non-profit in that sense, it's just set up for the artists, really. It is run pretty much non-profit, like there's no money in it, we're not bankrolling on a budget."
"At the same time, if we sold 2000 copies, I'm sure we'd get some money," says Dom.
"We want to push good music, rather than go, 'If that isn't going to sell more than 3000 copies, we're not going to release that', y'know what I mean?" continues Jared.
'Breakin Wreckwordz', the compilation album, was released in May by Shock Records NZ, thanks to a relationship fostered by Shock Records label manager Lio Nikolao. Lio heard an early Cyphanetik track I am the Slime on hiphopnz.com while Jared was still based in Melbourne.
"Lio started emailing me," says Jared. "And was like 'Send us a demo'. At the time all we had recorded was Hey Kids and I am the Slime and we were saying, 'Oh yeah, we're going to get you one' for ages..." he laughs.
"We were like 'We're sending you a demo next month' and then we'd record some stuff and be like 'Oh it's cack, we can't send that.' We finally got around to it though."
They signed a distribution deal for the first album early in 2004, and Shock will have first option on the next projects.
The sleeve of the compilation details two other releases scheduled for this year - an EP from JB and (ex-Dubious Bros MC) Tyna and the much-anticipated Insomniacs debut album. The future will no doubt see releases from the other three groups currently on the roster - Usual Suspects, Oddballs, and PNC - but releasing a collective effort was the logical first step.
"It makes it easier to establish all the groups at once," explains Jared. "It puts everyone out there, and then from the feedback that we get back, then we can see. Like I said, we're not on a big budget. If we just put out an Insomniacs album then it's hard to go out and establish the next group and the next group and the next group. Whereas if you do a compilation, then we get all our groups out there at once, then we get the income back from the album, and that allows everyone to have money, for everyone to start going on with that push."
Meeting up through the tight Aotearoa hip hop scene, the artists originally hailed from all over - Hamilton, Auckland, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Upper Hutt, Wanganui - but all have relocated to Auckland for the cause.
"Everyone is real tight too, we are like a big crew. The only reason that we wouldn't be a big crew is 'cos, trying to get 12 people together each time we do a show, or a practise or stuff is ridiculous!" laughs Jared. "But we all hang out with each other and stuff, we are like a big crew that's just got different groups inside it."
They barely squabble over music to rhyme over - plenty of beats are supplied from upcoming producers both inhouse and outside the group. Much of the album was produced by Saia from Usual Suspects, but it also has tracks produced by the likes of Red Bull Academy attendee Jeremy Toy, and Auckland DJ 4130. The quality of the beats has quickly improved too:
"As you get more well known you get more given to you, y'know," says Dom. "You couldn't even get good beats three or four years ago without paying money. Now it's like, everywhere, there's people making beats, it's crazy."
The Wreckwordz roster has also made a mark on the freestyle MC Battle scene with Cyphanetik, Tyna and Tourettes all placing well in the last few year's MC Battle for Supremacy competitions.
"It's a totally different way of thinking," says Dom.
"It's like a sport, aye," agrees Jared. "If you are playing rugby, you've got touch with the boys in the park, and then you've got your major league games, and it's like if the games aren't fun, it becomes like a job. I enjoy battling on the street, or at gigs, but when it comes to battle competitions, you've just got to go out there and work hard and prove yourself."
Outside competitions, the Breakin Wreckwordz group have become a regular part of the live scene in Auckland. They were a regular fixation at a monthly hip hop night at inner city venue The Temple before it shut its doors last year, and agree their live show has become more organised with the practice. The addition of ex-Wellingtonian DJ Kase will also help the live show tenfold.
"With that many people, sometimes you're not exactly sure who's going to make it, but now everyone's living up here, it's a lot easier," says Jared.
While the first release isn't being snapped up at the same rate as local legends Scribe and P-Money, it's not their style anyway.
"The label, from the start, was never planned to be an empire," assures Jared. "We just wanted something where we had full control about how we presented ourselves. It was always just that we wanted to have a label that represented the people we trust would be like completely real hip hop and not just some image put out there."
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