Chief, Rangatira, Fair-skinned, Rapper… we all have our definitions of ourselves and those that are given to us. Rei's album A Place To Stand is a personal and universal. It's beautifully produced with content that rides the line between reverse colonisation, inspiration, hip-hop, culture and a passion to make a dope album.
If Rei is an example of upcoming Kiwi artists, the future looks bright. From creating music the last 10 years to present his multi genre sound, Rei is definitely on the cutting edge, and is influenced by our global music community. Mostly by the UK House/Garage style, by Hip hop from major US rappers but, his album has the extra elements of Maori language, haka and kiwi slang, making the sum of A Place to Stand a smoothly produced audio experience. It also sounds BIG in a stadium or club setting.
Already releasing a number of tracks from this album, A Place To Stand includes beauties like Mix an electro acoustic ballad (with Rei on guitar), a lot of club bangers such as Deep and a few not-so- cheesy love songs like Basics.
A Place To Stand definitely has a Hip hop core, however, smash in some of Kog Studio's Chris Chetland's mix tricks, Rei's tricky lyrical melodies and house kicks, it has it's own character and a world class style. Being the second album (Chief Speech being his first) this means more coming from Rei… He chose these 13 tracks from a pool of 50, and the beats from over 100 tracks considered. This is a small example of his work ethic and dedication to this musical life.
A Place To Stand is a collaborative release between well-known label Kog and Rei's own label CHIEF Sound. Already a multi-award winning artist (Best Urban Album 2015 and best Music Video 2016 – Waiata Maori Music Awards) and the tautoko (support) of NZ On Air, Rei sets his sights on a nationwide tour before jumping continents to see where the wind will take him…
“There’s some of your stock-standard rap ‘I’m gonna take over the world’ type themes but I try to keep that to a minimum. Instead I try and convey the message that people can become chiefs of their own environment and empower them to take control of their future… I’m working pretty damn hard to take control of mine.”
Band Members:
Callum Rei McDougall (producer, songwriter, artist)
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