Rap star has promising wins
Rylee Paekau is raking in the awards for rapping and this could just be the start for the 12-year-old.
At the recent Rockshop Bandquest competition, Rylee won the Male Vocalist Award after performing with his band Pandemonium.
Two weeks prior, he won the same award at Band Slam.
The Melville Intermediate School Year 8 student said he’s also come out tops in Deanwell Idol and South Town Talent.
Rockshop Bandquest is for bands of two or more members, from intermediate or primary schools, who play a short set of covers or original songs.
Now in its sixth year, founder and director Glenn Common said he noticed an increase in the level of sophistication and performance skills of kids at intermediate age.
‘‘They’re watching Youtube, they’re following aspirational heroes in the Kiwi music scene and they’ve got access to recording gear as close as the I-Pad at home.
‘‘Bandquest gives them the opportunity to put it all together in front of a real live audience, and the results are impressive,’’ he said.
At Bandquest, Pandemonium sang Airplanes by B.o.B, with Rylee performing the rap.
Rapping is spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics, performed in time to a beat.
Rylee said the most difficult part was standing on the stage, pronouncing all of the words.
However, saying a fast rap can get you hyped.
He comes from a musical family and can also play the bass and acoustic guitar, he said.
Musically, rapping is one of his favourite things to perform.
It won’t be surprising if he makes a name for himself on the New Zealand rap scene.
For those wanting to get into rapping, Rylee said it was relatively hard to begin with, but that confidence was key.
‘‘It’s good to be confident about what you’re saying,’’ he said. ‘‘Be brave, own the stage. Lose yourself in the lyrics.’’
Cambridge Middle School band Mercy took out the Waikato regional final of Rockshop Bandquest at Clarence Street Theatre, while Semi-Local from Fairfield Intermediate took second place.
The online national final will be announced later in September, via bandquest.co.nz.