UHP (Upper Hutt Posse): 'Hau' North Island Album Release Shows

Having dropped their eighth album Hau (and eleven out of the fourteen letters in their name) earlier this year, hip hop legends and Tohu Whakareretanga / Legacy Award receivers UHP have rolled out a mini Te Ika-a-Māui release tour to mark the long-awaited collection. Original Posse member MC Wiya and crew will be hitting Tāmaki Makaurau's Wine Cellar next Thursday and dipping down to Pōneke the following day, making for a whirlwind two day party celebrating their first long player in more than a decade. Stay tuned for support act announcements, and in the meantime grab yourself a ticket while you can...

UHP 'Hau' Album Release
Thursday 23rd June - The Wine Cellar, Auckland
Friday 24th June - MOON, Wellington
Tickets available HERE via UTR

Cruise through the 26 fiery tracks, instrumental and dub mixes on Hau and enjoy the visuals for single 'Say Do Don't Do People'...

Press release:

They have been absent for far too long so it's excellent to have them back – now officially as UHP – with the powerful double album Hau (the breath of life, spiritual energy) which opens with a strident slice of socio-political Sly Stone funk-rap on Preeach before some old school reggae reaches out on Counterattack with a “positive vibration” and a slippery Studio One sound pushing the mana motuhake message.

Across these 26 tracks – the second disc has seven terrific dub versions and final half dozen instrumental versions of the 13 songs – there is a serious meltdown of scratching, free jazz wailing sax, ragga, soundscapes (Culture of Violence), spoken word (Deficit of Love), samples (powerful snatches of Farrakhan on the anti-rape/violence against women on Patua Te Pawhera) and catchy reggae pop . . . with messages as on the reggae-toasting pop of Soon Come: “wickedness a-go fall, justice and freedom for all”.

With the original Posse member MC Wiya alongside multi-instrumentalist Te Kupu (whose youngest daughter Ahurei also appears), Hau is a showcase of sound and styles with Robertson and Henderson back, and guests including drummer Riki Gooch, keyboardist Leo Coghini, string players and many others.

It has been a decade since the last UHP album and although they never troubled the charts, this digital-only release (with limited vinyl) is a strong return to form which demands to be heard.