2003: The rise of Scribe
The biggest name in New Zealand hip-hop in the early-mid 2000s was Christchurch’s Scribe, aka Malo Luafutu.
On the occasion of his first album, The Crusader, The Press’ Margaret Agnew asked Scribe if growing up in a predominantly white city contributed to the album’s emphasis on universal themes rather than a more Samoan flavour.
‘‘Yeah, I’d say so,’’ he replied. ‘‘And because Christchurch is really diverse and arty. There’s a whole lot of different people.
‘‘I wasn’t brought up in South Auckland. I was brought up in Christchurch and I definitely have influences from all the people there. Christchurch has its own buzz. A lot of people instantly associate Christchurch with farming. They have a lot of misconceptions.
‘‘They think we’re all hicks and country bumpkins.’’
He said: ‘‘My whole goal was never to just appeal to a Samoan market. I’ve always considered myself as just a Kiwi. And growing up in Christchurch, there’s not much of a Samoan community, well, there is now, but not compared to Auckland.
‘‘I was kind of lucky in that I had a lot of Ma¯ori friends and a lot of Caucasian friends, and I just never felt like ‘I’m a Samoan and that’s all there is to me’. I always felt multi-dimensional.’’
At the time of writing, Scribe had just won the b.net award for best vocalist/MC, performed at the 2003 Aotearoa Hip-hop Summit, had signed to be the first hip-hop act to join the Australian Big Day Out tour, had seen his single Stand Up hit the top of the charts and his debut album go platinum and was scheduled to open for US rapper
50 Cent in December 2003.
The Press reported that things are ‘‘kinda surreal’’ for the boy from Aranui, to the point where he can’t quite believe it himself.
‘‘I gotta wait until I see him
[50 Cent] walk off the plane before I actually believe it’s gonna happen. When I was No 1, I didn’t believe it until I watched the [chart] show.’’
160 Years is a series marking the launch of The Press newspaper in Christchurch on May 25, 1861.