Respecta.is - The Ultimate Hip Hop Portal

NEW ZEALAND HIP HOP. Dam Native is a New Zealand hip hop group. The group formed in 1992 under the name Native Bass and released an album at a time when the industry was virtually void of any New Zealand hip hop.
Dam Native focuses on Māori issues and other political issues relating to New Zealand. The group have released their album, titled Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted (sometimes shortened to K.D.R.U.), the hiphop pioneers are responsible for an "Urban Musical Cultural Revolution" in Aotearoa/New Zealand. With Hip Hop as the vehicle, Tangata Whenua ("indigenous person"/"people of the land") as the driver, Dam Native single handedly were the first to bring International respect and recognition to Aotearoa/New Zealand Hip Hop music.
Through poetic skills of a higher level, songwriting genius, phat beats, underground street integrity, and a passion for HipHop culture Dam Native immediately became the benchmark for Street Music in NZ.
Spanning nearly two decades Dam Native's involvement in the NZ music industry saw them not only support major international acts such as Public Enemy, Ice T, Spearhead, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Del the Funky Homosapien, Big Day Out Tour New Zealand and Australia, Body Count and The Fugees to name a few, but also became not only the first "true/real" Hip Hop group but the first "Maori Hip Hop" group to win two NZ music awards.
The groundbreaking Dam Native Album, "Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted" is still regarded today as the best NZ hip hop album ever.