Su’amalie [soo-ah-mah-lee-eh]: In the Samoan language it means sweet. The antidote to bittersweet situations. Chorus sung by the three sisters Jayde, Jazzmin, and Jessika Ramese Finau. Filled with battle rhymes to compliment its metaphors to serve as a street level parable to MC’s.

FEELSTYLE – BREAK IT TO PIECES
Already causing a stir with the success of the radio singles - the reggaematical hip-hop slammer ‘Leave It At That’~ and the Samoan language funk bomb ‘Su’ga ea!’ ~ Feelstyle now indomitably proves that he has styles to burn and lyrics to spare with his debut album ‘Break It To Pieces’.
Rapping bi-lingually and combining humour with dark, mysterious concepts in his lyrics he is truly the missing link in the NZ hip-hop story.

With unprecedented respect from other MCs and those in the know he has been patient; building his lyrical armoury and working with production partner Submariner on getting things just right, a process that has taken the better part of 3 years.

In that time they have set up their own recording company 'Can’t Stop Music' in order to retain overall control of the whole process – recording all the music themselves until they reached the point of delivering a fully mastered album.

The result is a debut that musically and lyrically reeks of maturity, the time and care that has gone into this project is evident from the opening bars to its conclusion 17 tracks (no cheesy interludes) and 68 minutes later. Every aspect of ‘Break It To Pieces’ has relevance, the title refers to reducing everything down to its simplest form, removing the complications, allowing accessibility for one and all.

Joined by an international guest line-up that includes ex-pat Mark de Clive-Lowe, Kaidi Tatham (Herbaliser live band, Bugz In The Attic, Agent K), Spikey Tee (Bomb The Bass, Morcheeba etc) and celebrated Australian jazz bass player Cameron Undy, ‘Break It To Pieces’ comes stacked with cosmopolitan credibility. The local accomplices range from Shayne Carter (Dimmer), Ahmen Mahal (Rhombus) and Camillia Temple to the cream of Aotearoa hip-hoppers including Savage (Deceptikonz), Juse (Woodcut Productions), DJ Raw (Footsouljahs etc) and Son Tan (Lost Tribe).

The flavour though, belongs entirely to Feelstyle and Submariner who flip the styles to deliver a hip-hop record that is all about originality and respect for the form without needing to play catch-up with this weeks American Top 40. Mastered by the legendary Tom Coyne (A Tribe Called Quest, Beyonce, The Roots etc) at Sterling Sound, NYC, a first for a NZ artist, it is no idle boast to say that this record has the sonic edge to match its potent content.

From the swamp funk of ‘Outside Enclosure’ to the hook-heavy roosterphonics of ‘As Momentum Pushes’, the top notch Samoan spitting on ‘Su’amalie/Aint Mad At You’ or the records ultimate roundup on closure ‘Break It To Pieces’ it all rings true and solid as the most consistent and crucial distillation of the PI experience in NZ, on wax. Yes, that’s right, wax! ‘Break It To Pieces’ is available on a double vinyl. The first single ‘Su’amalie/Ain’t Mad At You’ was released in New Zealand in September 2004. It entered the Alternative Chart at #1 and peaked at #32 on the Commercial Singles Chart. ‘Break It To Pieces’ was released in October 2004 and peaked on the Album Chart at #67. Since then Feelstyle has been cementing it’s reputation as one of New Zealand’s top live acts. In March of this year they took out three awards at the inaugural Pacific Music Awards for ‘Best Pacific Song’ for ‘Su’amalie’, ‘Best Pacific Male Artist’ and ‘Best Pacific Hip-Hop Artist’.

FEELSTYLE – HISTORY

A landmark figure in the NZ hip-hop scene since its origins, Feelstyle (aka Picasso or Kas) has had several names and personas over the years but has maintained a rep that gets respect like no other. Born in Samoa but primarily brought up in NZ, Feelstyle’s name initially appears in the history books following his participation in Aotearoa’s first ever MC battle, ‘Taita’. Though the 1987 event is most notorious for the emergence of the Upper Hutt Posse to the general public (after a fierce performance they took away the runners up spot) it’s not so well known that the winner on that day was none other than Feelstyle, working at that time under the name RIQ.

In these pioneering days of local hip-hop everything was in short supply and RIQ soon found himself sharing a turntable technician, DJ Vinnie aka Viane, with local crew Noise In Effect. Before long RIQ had become a part of Noise In Effect (RIQ, Kosmo & DJ Vinnie) who later changed their name to Rough Opinion and went on to become the most influential and important group in the Wellington underground.

Though they never committed their incendiary rhymes and Teflon tough beats to wax, Rough Opinion did tour the country several times, including a support tour with Supergroove (when Che Fu was still on the mic) as well as several performances for charity causes.
By 1995 he was now known as Conscious Navigator and was furthering his rep as a solo artist alongside Gifted & Brown and Ruamoko on a performance showcase called ‘Tribal Bass’. With long-time friends DJ Raw and King Kapisi he formed ‘The Overstayers’ who recorded demos with Mu from Fat Freddy’s Drop and could have been NZ's first hip-hop supergroup had history not turned out differently. Around this time Kas also started hanging out with South Auckland rapper Ermehn whose track ‘Walls Of Steel’ benefited from his chorus writing skills as well as premiering Kas rhyming in Samoan on record for the first time on the intro. His focus was moving beyond Wellington’s passionate and compact hip-hop scene. It was also in this period that Kas first met up with emerging producer Submariner aka Andy Morton who was quick to realise the potential of his unique rhymestyle, delivery and perspective. Kas was amongst the first to be signed up to the brand new Papa Pacific label and released a single ‘Hibiscus Milk’ that won props for it’s NZOA assisted video but never got the support required to capitalise on its freshness.

Having built up a serious head of steam it was time for another name change and around 1997 Conscious Navigator became Field Style Orator. Under the banner Phunk Republic, Kas toured the country with Dam Native and his compardres Kosmo, DJ Raw and Fiso who were by this stage establishing the name The Footsouljahs. Asked by Mo Show’s Slave to contribute a track to the seminal ‘Aotearoa Hip-Hop’ compilation Kas called in DJ Raw and came up with ‘Tha Anthem’, which was a solid statement of solo intent and an epiphany of musical purpose. Realising that with his bi-lingual English/Samoan rap style he could pull people in who might otherwise be resistant by injecting some humour and good vibes into proceedings, Kas was set for the next stage of his career.

Moving up to Auckland to assist King Kapisi with his debut album, Kas’s writing and vocalising is felt on several of the tracks including ‘Screems From Da Old Plantation’ and ‘Second Migration’. Becoming increasingly in-demand as a studio guest artist as well as a live rapper, he appeared on the remix of Ardijah’s ‘Way Around You’ with Manuel Bundy, Submariner and Mark De Clive-Lowe. As well as concocting the scorching ‘Coconut Sauce’ track with Juse, which eventually wound up on the ‘Major Flavours’ compilation series.

The remaining years have seen Kas become simply, Feelstyle, and the focus has been his partnership with production sensei Submariner and the endless hours spent ensuring that ‘Break It To Pieces’ is all that it possibly could be. In the meantime Kas’s currency has continued to increase in value with highly prized guest shots on solo tracks and remixes for Bic Runga, Soane, Che Fu, Manuel Bundy and House Of Downtown.