Disruptiv originated as a business specialising in professional graffiti art projects including advertising, murals and CD cover art. It was the brainchild of two graf artists - Jonny 'Pest5' Wartmann and Elliot 'Askew' O'Donell - who also brought Deidre Dawson on board to manage the business side of the operation. As the business grew the company established a gallery on Auckland's K'Rd, started a breakdancing crew, and produced a pictorial magazine called Disrupt. In 2004 the entrepreneurial organisation also established a record label.
Disruptiv's first move into the music scene was through the mixtapes they created to go along with the magazine. Within hip hop, mixtapes were originally used by DJs to present their sets outside of a club or radio environment. Eventually they were also taken up by rap groups who wanted to present their skills by putting together rough unreleased tracks or rapping over other people's beats, especially current hits.
The Disruptiv mixtapes had a slightly broader goal, as Jonny explains.
"We were using them as a platform to give exposure, not just to underground artists, but to the New Zealand hip hop scene as a whole. We tried to get people that were semi-retired and people that had already blown up, as well as a lot of dudes out of their bedrooms.
"We did four editions and as time went on we watched the new Zealand hip hop scene grow to the point where the bigger acts weren't very forthcoming with giving us material and we were getting a whole slew of substandard underground material. So we found it had just run its course. Now we're focused on making mixtapes for our own artists, our own DJs and actually making the big step of putting out an actual album!"
Jonny himself is an artist on the label - he emcees under the name 'MC4Higher' and originally moved to Auckland from Christchurch to pursue a music career, in addition to forming Disruptiv. Askew also makes music - starting out as part of the Tomb Raiders before moving on to release his own mixtape. (The other two members Young Mega and Nikki Montana also plan to pursue solo careers). The label also represents singer Maia Rata and producer Zone-1, as well as having a casual management arrangement with two DJs - Penfold and Thug Fresh - who are both also moving into production.
The most high-profile act on the label is 4 Corners, named for the four cornerstone elements of hip hop. Jonny reckons the group is a perfect fit with Disruptiv.
"We are focused on the cultural aspects of hip hop predominantly and we've signed 4 Corners because they're all about that too. Hip hop is a culture and it's a form of expression in many different formats apart from music - in style, art, speech, dress, and dance. So our point of difference to all the other hip hop labels is that we're involved in all the elements of hip hop... That also means we've got a lot of contacts in the industry and a very authentic kind of understanding and basis in the whole culture.
"Other hip hop labels out there are either going for the underground sound or the mainstream sound and there's not too many people focusing on creating a local hip hop sound. With the look of our roster at the moment, it would also seem that we've also unintentionally got into promoting Maori hip hop artists which are quite under-represented, I think, in the current New Zealand hip hop climate. You see mostly Samoans and white dudes rapping, whereas in the early days it was more Maori dominated.
"Another thing that sets us apart is that all of our art and graphic design is handled in-house and that's something we pride ourselves on."
With a business-like foot in every element of hip hop culture, Disruptiv is a label that looks to have all its bases covered.
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