- New Zealand's hip hop scene has been seeing a fair amount of international success recently with names like P-Money and Scribe dropping critically acclaimed albums, gaining the artists recognition and interest from across the board. Mareko, from the Deceptikonz crew, has gained a reputation for being NZ's finest battle MC and is the latest hip hopper to drop a full length release in the form of White Sunday. The international hip hop community has definitely warmed to Mareko's lyrical skills as he's invited big names such as Psycho Les (of the Beatnuts), Wu-Tang's Inspectah Deck, Tha Liks, the X-Ecutioners' Roc Raida and others to spit rhymes, provide beats and scratches.
Juliano from the UK's Creators crew locks down the orchestral string loop and timpani drum beats for the opening tune, Espionage. It's been a while since I've heard anything from The Creators so it's good to hear that they're still around and in good form. Espionage is Mareko's intro tune - if you haven't heard of him, he describes what he's all about in a self righteous braggadocio flow.
Psycho Les provides a laidback reggae beat and drops a few verses on Oh Shit. In true Beatnuts style, it a feel-good joint designed to get hands waving in the air and rocking the party. On the other end of the spectrum, Mareko puts forward questions about family and God on the serious Why Is That? where he confronts people who put him down for what he does when he could have been a lawyer or a teacher.
NZ's finest battle DJ and winner of several DMC titles, P-Money drops beats for City Line where Mareko narrates a story about observations made whilst catching a bus - bus sounds included! P-Money's production skills return for the uptempo b-boy rockin' Stop, Drop & Roll which sees Mareko team up with the rest of his Deceptikonz crew.
Roc Raida flexes his turntablist muscle on Don't Need Protection as he cuts and scratches hip hop samples to instigate a diss. Mareko teams up with producer/MC Scram Jones who drops a verse and provides a Krunk style beat with a massive string riff laid on top. J-Ro and E-Swift of Tha Liks also provide Mareko with ammunition on Let Y'all Know and they too lay down a string riff on top of their beats - this time it's on a funkier disco tip dropping old soul samples.
The album also features bonus tracks including the massive, auditorium filling sounds (courtesy of the production skills of Scram Jones) on Hook Up featuring the Dawn Raid All Stars and a funkier horn-laden remix of Stop, Drop & Roll featuring a new verse by Scribe.
When you've got serious hip hop talent from the US appearing on your debut LP, you just know that Mareko's definitely on to something on White Sunday. It's a solid LP showcasing his tight flows and in most cases strong wordplay. Good to see that he's chosen a number of producers to give the album a little variety however the feelgood party tracks seem to stand out more than the deep and serious tunes which is a shame as Mareko's lyrics are worth pondering over.