Mareko

Mareko - Here to Stay
2003


While New Zealanders adore the whole American hip hop culture, right down to the Nikes and Allen Iverson jerseys, they also have their own homegrown rappers, almost all of whom are Maori. Local rap has existed in New Zealand since the '80s, but it wasn't until recently that it really broke through to the masses.

The song that forever changed New Zealand radio was Scribe’s “Stand Up,” which stormed to the top of the charts in 2003. Scribe's basic message was “I am unable to quit rapping. Seriously, I can’t stop. I also reside in New Zealand. Perhaps you have seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy. You have? Cool.”

I’m completely misrepresenting the song here. It’s actually a cute little call-to-arms that tells the locals to give up the Fat Joe posturing and represent their home turf.

Around the same time that Scribe dropped this single, a crew called the Deceptikonz also garnered a lot of attention. Two of that group’s most talented MC’s, Savage and Mareko, have recently become stars on their own. Mareko’s White Sunday sold a shitload of copies in 2004 and Savage just blew up in May when I was there visiting my sister. I downloaded Mareko’s “Here to Stay” when I got back to the States and it now resides at the number 3 slot in my iTunes Top 25. That’s pretty impressive for a New Zealand rapper that no one in America has heard.