KIA ORA! HOW HAS YOUR 2021 BEEN SO FAR?
Kia Ora and thank you so much for the opportunity to share my story! 2021 has been wild so far. I was initially going to do an honours in stats this year because I was too scared to fully commit to my ultimate passion which is music, but as a wise man once said you can only fool yourself for so long! I’m now 4 singles deep and loving the journey and engagement so far. I’ve been connecting with a lot of NZ artists and I froth the positive energy that is brewing in the NZ hip-hop scene right now.
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SO WHO IS SUPERARI? TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF.
Superari is a word derived from Latin and means ‘the will to overcome’. It is a belief, a knowing, a spirit which exists in each of us that no matter what happens we have the physical, spiritual, emotional and mental capability to overcome anything, or achieve anything. I chose to embody this because I lived life with a lot of fear growing up, and this led to a lot of self-imposed suffering. Having overcome that now I want to inspire and energise people with my music and show everyone, especially New Zealanders, that you can do anything you set your mind too.
I’ve always loved artists like Kanye, Uzi, Thug who weren’t afraid to step outside the box and create their own wave. I want my music to stand out and create new avenues and sub-genres. Right now that sounds like a modern, forward-thinking take on melodic rap but I can see my sound going in many different directions in the future.
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HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CREATING MUSIC FOR? BECAUSE YOU ONLY START RELEASING MUSIC THIS YEAR ACCORDING TO SPOTIFY.
I’ve been making music since the end of 2019 – so I’m pretty new to this. In 2019 I rode a moped and found myself alone with my thoughts in a helmet for 40 minutes every day. I did what any sane person would do and started freestyling about everything I would see on my journey and eventually decided to start recording the lyrics and melodies I came up with. I made a few songs in the end of 2019 and released my first song on Soundcloud in the beginning of lockdown in 2020 (called Bahamas, still goes hard to be fair) and finally went Spotify official with Fade Away this year.
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HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC TO SOMEONE?
Raw. Wavy. Hypnotic.
The common theme across all of my music is a lot of diverse melodies, vocal inflections and flow changes. I want to take listeners on a journey and keep things exciting with a lot of twists and turns. this is what I love about the artists that I listen to like Uzi and Thug, they keep things interesting! Some of my songs have very raw, unfiltered delivery which I hope invokes powerful emotions like on No Regular Artist Freestyle and Fade Away, but I also want to energise and uplift listeners with wavy bass-heavy bangers like The Promised Land.
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DO YOU PRODUCE YOUR OWN MUSIC AND DOES FINDING THE OUND COME BEFORE OR AFTER THE LYRICS?
True to my origins on the moped, I tend to freestyle a lot of my songs. I feel like this is the most raw and creative form of expression because it happens in real time straight from your subconscious brain and into the microphone, you go away to a beautiful place in that “flow” consciousness zone and if you’re lucky when you listen back to the recording you often find some gem melodies and flows in there. This is where I usually start and then I piece together the song from here, then I finish off writing the lyrics after I have a cohesive sonic journey established.
For “No Regular Artist Freestyle” I approached the song differently though, I wanted to tell more of a story so I decided to piece together the song “line by line” where I’d listen back to the progression of the song each time I’d create a new line. Right now I get beats from other NZ producers or online, but as I develop my art further I definitely will learn how to produce so that I can play a more active role in the entire process of creating a song.
YOU JUST RELEASED YOUR TRACK ‘NO REGULAR FREESTYLE’ AND YOU ALSO HAVE A VIDEO COMING OUT FOR IT. HOW HAS THE RECEPTION/FEEDBACK BEEN FOR THIS RELEASE?
The feedback and support for No Regular Artist Freestyle has been unreal – shout out to everyone who has been showing love! I think the thing I’ve appreciated most from the reception has been that people understand and respect my vision for the song. A lot of people have messaged me saying they appreciate the honesty and confidence in my lyrics and that it inspires them or gives them energy in the gym which is what I wanted to invoke with this song. I am also grateful for the people who rate the melodies and flows in the song, I think that’s the hardest thing to do and the beauty of rap and music in general is to deliver a message and emotion to a listener in a package that is actually enjoyable and captivating.
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WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE VIDEO? DID YOU KNOW THAT WAS WHAT YOU WANTED THE VIDEO TO BE WHEN YOU HAD THE TRACK?
I am beyond stoked with this video! Shoutout to Cloud 12 (a.k.a. Dan Harris a.k.a. my older brother). I had a vision in mind for the video and it has become so much more vibrant thanks to Dan’s creative energy when we were filming and riffing. The song itself is a wild ride of different melodies and flow changes with a core theme of confidence and self-actualisation, so I wanted the visuals to embody the bounce and movement of the delivery in the song whilst also representing the uplifting message the song invokes. Dan smashed it out of the park on both of these fronts, with some absolutely wild shots in unreal locations, and crazy effects in post that solidify the message. My favourite shot is the start of the second verse where the camera moves with me as I rap, it feels like you’re dancing with me as you watch. Can’t wait for people to see this.
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HOW WAS YOUR 2020 AND WHAT WAS THE PROGRESS LIKE FROM THEN TO YOUR RELEASES THIS YEAR?
Looking back is crazy. 2020 was when I released my first few songs and did a couple of performances at my 21st and a couple of friends’ parties, it was all just a bit of fun and I pretty much just released each song as I made it. I kicked off this year by releasing Fade Away which was my first Spotify song – it was awesome to work with an NZ producer, Edmond Yin, and go back and forth making creative changes – and so rewarding to have an insanely positive response from listeners. Its now late August 2021 and I am so grateful to have been played on Base FM, have a few shows coming up, and to be interviewed by Moments Passed of course! I am also starting to collaborate with other NZ artists, photographers and videographers which is the most fun and exciting part. The journey is only just beginning and I’m so excited for what’s to come.
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DO YOU HAVE MUCH PLANNED FOR THIS YEAR (AS MUCH AS PLANNING CAN BE A BIT HARD AT THE MOMENT) OR ARE YOU JUST GOING WITH THE FLOW?
Absolutely! I’ve got a super active brain so planning stuff out kinda puts that at ease. Currently I’m planning to release a single every 3 weeks that are all slightly different vibes to keep feeding my fans with new flavours and see what they enjoy the most. I also think an essential piece of the puzzle is captivating visuals – I want my art to be all-encompassing beyond the music – so expect some crazy video content to accompany the different vibes I release over the coming months. I had a couple of shows lined up as well but with covid creeping back on the scene who knows what will happen to those!
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SOME FUN QUESTIONS:
FAVE SNACK?
Spicy tomato munchos. Life changing.
OVERUSED PHRASE?
Nah all good
IF YOU COULD START A RUMOUR ABOUT YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD IT BE & WHY?
I’ve got a Collab with Lil Uzi in the works. Probably coming out before the end of 2023.
