Upper Hutt Posse is a musical band in New Zealand. The progenitors of hip hop music in the South Pacific originally formed as a four-piece reggae group in 1985, the Posse emerged at the forefront of the local response to emerging rap culture. Their unique fusion of rap and reggae has been an inspirational injection into the national music scene, and a powerful vehicle for their revolutionary socio-political perspectives. Influenced primarily by socio-politically conscious reggae and rap music, from Bob Marley to Gil Scott-Heron to Public Enemy. The band name is derived from Upper Hutt, the city in which they formed.
History
UHP formed as a four-piece reggae band in 1985. Since their inception, Dean Hapeta and the Posse have been fighting racial injustice through their music. In 1988 they released New Zealand's first rap record and their first 12-inch hip hop record, "E Tū", through Jayrem Records. The song combined African American revolutionary rhetoric with an explicitly Māoriframe of reference. It pays homage to the rebel Māori warrior chiefs of New Zealand's colonial history, Hone Heke, Te Kooti, and Te Rauparaha. Releasing their debut album, Against The Flow in 1989 through Southside Records, the group performed nationally and the following year in Sydney, Australia, and in Detroit, USA. Against The Flow consists of sequenced/programmed rap and reggae songs and a political slow jam titled "Stormy Weather", the unique lineup of two rappers, a reggae toaster, a female singer, a male singer, and a DJ allowed main songwriter D Word to compose without having to use 'featured' vocalists outside the group. In 1990, the group toured marae, and supported Public Enemy when that group visited New Zealand, and performed with the ragga artist Macca B and the Zimbabwean group the Bhundu Boys in Australia. October 1992 saw the completion of a music-documentary, Solidarity, showing the UH Posse's visit to the U.S. Co-directed by Dean Hapeta and Rongotai Lomas, the music-documentary was aired on TV ONE's Marae. With the departure of Darryl Thompson around this time, and then Teremoana Rapley 1993, who became a member of Moana and the Moahunters, and a presenter on television series Mai Time, being joined later by MC Beware who had left the group back in 1990. D Word formed Kia Kaha Productions Ltd and continues up to the present day as the leader of UHP through various lineup changes. Upon the release of the movie Once Were Warriors, the group's single "Ragga Girl" appeared on the soundtrack, with MC Wiya and D Word making cameo appearances. The new lineup in 1994 of live musicians produced the 1995 album Movement In Demand, mixing their signature hip hop style with their reggae roots, and adding the distinctive raggamuffin rap of Wiya. In 2000 album Mā Te Wā saw the re-introduction of founding member Blue Dread, and also Katarina Kawana who had 'jammed' with the group in their formative years in the mid 1980s. Mā Te Wā is a digital reggae album completely in the Māori language. In 2002 UHP released Te Reo Māori Remixes, a 10-track album of earlier favourites remixed and featuring only Māori-language lyrics. This album received a Tui Award at the 2003 NZ Music Awards for 'Best Mana Māori Album'. In 2005, the group released a double album titled Legacy which includes two tracks performed by Te Kupu's daughter Ataahua, notably a Māori-language version of "The Greatest Love Of All". Disc One, Ngāti is predominantly in English language, while Disc Two, Huia, is all in Māori. In 2007 another 'live' lineup was formed including Maaka McGregor who had performed live with the group at various gigs since 1995, Dez Mallon and Nathan Warren, Te Kupu and MC Wiya made up the five core members at that time which also included additional musicians. In July 2008 the first recording session for a new 'live band' studio album commenced at Trident and in September 2008 "Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou" from this first recording session was released digitally as a special song denoting 20 years since the release of debut recording "E Tū". While production continued for the live band album through 2009, production began also on a bi-lingual electronica album titled "Tohe" released in July 2010. In October 2011 the "live band" album "Declaration Of Resistance" was released.
