Mon
Jul
26
maitreya's blog...
Hailing from Christchurch New Zealand maitreya is an MC with a mood and a message to renew the faith of Hip Hop heads worldwide. His soulful melodies punctuated by tight, head nodding beats and rhymes made him the first ever hip hop artist to crowd-source US$50,000 to record his debut solo album Close To Home.
The album is a journey through sound into the tragedies and victories of an everyday hero who has taken his craft from Christchurch, New Zealand to stages in New York, Hong Kong, London and Amsterdam.
So dig out your De La Soul, cue up your Lupe Fiasco, slap on some Streets and they will all be in good company... you'll recognize the emotional honesty and depth, but like all great artists... maitreya does it his way.
The album is a journey through sound into the tragedies and victories of an everyday hero who has taken his craft from Christchurch, New Zealand to stages in New York, Hong Kong, London and Amsterdam.
So dig out your De La Soul, cue up your Lupe Fiasco, slap on some Streets and they will all be in good company... you'll recognize the emotional honesty and depth, but like all great artists... maitreya does it his way.
Te Puna Reka : The Sweet Flow
Today I am releasing Te Puna Reka which means The Sweet Flow. It is an EP of songs from Close To Home in Te Reo Maori (Maori Language). July 26 - August 2 is Maori Language Week and I am giving the EP away for free at my site www.maitreya.co.nz… check it out!!
Nga Mihi, maitreya
Wed
Feb
10
Tim Skedden aka The Unsuitables is playing The Grange in Ponsonby next friday night… will be a dope night, this dude is an awesome musician and great guy. Check out the vid below for his first solo single “I Really Don’t Know”… CHCHur!!
Fri
Feb
5
Paul Fuemana Feb 8 1969 - Jan 31 2010
Just came back from Pauly’s funeral in Auckland Central, PIC Newton, great to celebrate the bro’s life with friends and family. It’s really sad and my heart goes out to his close friends and family because 40 is too young but Pauly gave us so much in his life and will be honoured, loved and remembered as long as there’s still music in this world. DLT made a comment in an interview that hit me.. “Pauly opened the door for all of us, for millions of kids now and yet to be born.” On point, Pauly and his brother Phil Fuemana were true pioneers and we all pay homage with the greatest respect to them for helping to create the opportunities we have today. You will always be loved, respected and remembered e hoa, moe mai ra, haere atu ki Te Kore…
Sun
Jan
31
Tama & Maisey hit the road in February on their TAHI Tour.. show’s all over the North Island, click the pic to see the show schedule. CHur..
Gigs in February…
Kia Ora!
We’re kicking off the year with heaps of gigs around the country and the upcoming release of my new single Sin City ft. Awa (Nesian Mystik). I’ll holla at you you for a sneak preview of the video in the coming weeks. Here’s what’s up on the live tip…
- Waitangi Day (FEB 6th) @ Waitangi where I’ll be performing with original Maori soul music legend Whirimako Black. It’s a great honour to be playing with Whirimako, she’s an inspiration for so many of us, a true leader of Maori soul music… and @ Waitangi too, choice!
- On Friday Feb 19, The Babysitters Club will hit the stage in our inaugural show with our good mates Obsidean Rock @ The Brownzy Tavern, Browns Bay, Auckland.
- The Hip Hop Live Here whanau are gonna rip it up @ Waitakere Sounds 2010, FEB 21. Kaps, Feelstyle and me will be playing from 2pm.
- A Lunchtime gig @ the Christchurch Polytech Orientation on FEB 25th.
- The Dux the next night Fri FEB 26th! It’s Pauly’s birthday, the man who brews Dux Larger and all those other incredible beers, so come down and celebrate with us!
- One gig I am definitely going to and you should too is Tama Waipara and Maisey Rika’s TAHI TOUR! They are two of my favourite NZ artists and their show is gonna be incredible… check out their February Tour dates HERE.
Have a wicked February and hope to catch you on the road somewhere,
CHCHur! maitreya
Mon
Jan
18
Relief in Haiti
Kia Ora,
The most important news right now is Haiti. It’s more important than ever that the international community comes together in a humanitarian effort to support Haiti with both immediate relief and to rebuild the country.
Here’s three ways you can donate money or supplies:
1. UNICEF
UNICEF has been working in Haiti since 1949, your donation will go to the Haiti Earthquake Children’s Appeal to support children affected by the recent earthquake.
2. RED CROSS in the USA
You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
3. YELE.ORG
Wyclef Jean (The Fugees) founded Yéle Haiti in 2005.
You can text YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to the Earthquake Relief Fund.
If you’re in the NYC area & want to donate emergency supplies, email INFO@YELE.org to find out the drop off locations.
Thank you to everyone out there who is working for the Haitian Relief effort and everyone who donates something to that effort, we need to make our collective empathy count.
Love & Light, maitreya
Mon
Nov
9
Maori Music Awards . Public Enemy . Euro Tour ‘10
Kia Ora!
This weekend is the Waiata Maori Awards (Maori Music Awards)… I’m headed to Hastings for the ceremony and nominated for two awards, Best Maori Male Solo Artist and Best Maori Urban Artist.
Hit the banner and check out the full list of finalists…
We’ve started selling tickets on SellaBand.com for a European Tour next July/August.
The Francis Rodino Band is confirmed for the first show in London at The Lockside Lounge in Camden and we’ll be announcing a SellaBand support band for each show!
Click on the banner below and come grab your tickets…
For all you Public Enemy heads out there, check this out… Chuck D and the crew have signed up to SellaBand to raise $250,000 to record their next album! This is gonna be a dope album, how could it not?! You can grab a copy for $25 and be part of history… shot!
Hit the banner below to check it out…
And next week we’re shooting the video to my next single, Sin City ft. Awa (Nesian Mystik). Should be out February so watch out for that!
Take care of each other out there and bring on tha Aotearoa summer!!
CHCHur, maitreya
www.maitreya.co.nz
Wed
Oct
21
Interview on www.museyon.com
What up!!
Here’s a new interview with www.museyon.com, a NY based website covering peoples obsessions with Arts, Music and Culture. Their tag line is “A Curated Guide To Your Obesessions”… nice! Check it out!!
Love & Light, maitreya
Wed
Oct
7
European Summer Tour, July 2010!
Kia Ora!
The BIG news this month is that I’ve just begun selling tickets for an 11 date EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR in July 2010!
Doing a full European Tour has always been a dream and as you know, I’m always tryna think of new ways to live my dreams! So… I’m pre-selling the tickets online through SellaBand.com.. genius!! Just go to www.sellaband.com/maitreyatour where you will find all the dates and info about the tour as well as tickets!
It’s gonna be maitreya and The Babysitters Club and we will be supported by 11 of my favourite SellaBand bands! I will be announcing those support acts over the coming weeks so stay tuned… there’s also VIP Backstage Passes and Tour T-Shirts, for the true hardcore maitreya fans out there.
So, come and grab ya ticket and let’s rock Europe next summer! Click on the banner above to purchase tickets.
In other news…
Check this out… PUBLIC ENEMY have just signed up to raise US$250,000 to record their next album with funding from fans on SellaBand.com!!
And a quick info leak for my peoples out there… my third New Zealand single SIN CITY ft. AWA (Nesian Mystik) is set for release real soon!
Love & Light, maitreya
Tweet Me! www.twitter.com/maitreya_now
Wed
Sep
23
Silver Scrolls
I just got back from the APRA Silver Scroll Awards held this year in my hometown of Christchurch! It was a wicked night with performances and appearances by some of our most talented artists, including Bic Runga, Scribe, Demarnia Lloyd, Dave Dobbyn, Ray Columbus and The Bats! Plus the Canterbury Lamb was incredible… props to the chef and the whole kitchen! Many thanks and much respect to Abbie, Petrina, Rita, the whole crew at APRA and Oscar Kightley who MC’d the night, you guys rock and put on yet another night to remember!
Congratulations to all the winners!
APRA Silver Scroll Award
James Milne & Luke Buda: ‘Apple Pie Bed’
New Zealand Music Hall Of Fame Induction
Hirini Melbourne & Richard Nunns
SOUNZ Contemporary Award: recognising creative excellence by a classical composer.
Ross Harris: ‘Symphony III’
APRA Maioha Award: celebrating contemporary Maori music.
Rewi Spraggon & Riki Bennett (Te Aratoi): ‘Tapapakanga’
Most Performed Work in New Zealand
Midnight Youth: ‘The Letter’
Most Performed Work Overseas
Neil Finn: ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’
I was a nominee for the APRA Maioha Award for WHAKAKOTAHI RANGATAHI which I recorded with KILOTONE. Many congratulations go to Rewi, Riki, Kristal and Te Aratoi for winning with their beautiful waiata Tapapakanga!! Rewi and the crew have been writing and recording in Te Reo (Maori Language) with Maori instrumentation for many years, they are leaders in their field and deserved winners! CHCHur! Also wanna shout out Maisey Rika who was nominated for Repeat Offender, another incredibly talented artist you gotta check out.
Cheers to Jeff Fulton, his Chart crew and Fat Eddies for throwing the After Party! About 15 acts played and I got to rock CHur To The CHur and WAITAHA for my Christchurch peoples!! Shot..!
Take care and have a great September!!
Love & Light, maitreya
Sat
Aug
22
On Tour & New Dates
Kia Ora!
First leg of the King Kapisi Tour with Tha Feelstyle and Scalper was ill.. played shows right across new zealand, only places we didn’t get to were down the very south of the south island.. but we’re on our way! We’re headed to CHCH, DUN, QTWN & WAN early September. If you caught one of the shows, CHCHur for coming out and checking us out! Here’s the new dates…
Sep 09 Christchurch, Dux de Lux
Sep 10 Dunedin, Refuel Student Bar
Sep 11 Wanaka, The Mint Bar
Sep 12 Queenstown, Revolver
At the Khuja and Dux de Lux shows we unveiled The Babysitters Club, a new band consisting of Jason Kerrison, Tim Skedden and myself. We’ve been in Tha Lab (aka skiving off to the in-house studio at house parties) and putting down some real fresh tunes… so prepare yo’ self to be Babysat in the coming months!
In other news…
LOTALUV made it to the top 20 of the Silver Scrolls this year.. DOPE!
And WHAKAKOTAHI RANGATAHI has been nominated for the APRA Maioha Award for Maori Song Writing at this years Silver Scrolls! I recorded the song earlier this year with KILOTONE, it translates to YOUTH UNITE… You can check it out here…
www.maitreya.co.nz is coming soon!!!
PEACE!
