Dam Native

Trailblazers Danny Haimona and Bennett Pomana describe themselves as "pioneers of horrified hip hop". They released their first album under the name Native Bass in 1992, when hip hop was almost unheard of in Aotearoa. Later, as Dam Native, Haimona and Pomana voiced Māori issues through their music. On 1997 album Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted they worked with DJ Manuel Bundy and future Apple Music creative director Zane Lowe. In a 2024 RNZ interview Haimona said "our tūpuna wrote that record, I just held the pen". Acclaimed as the best hip hop album made on Kiwi soil, it was reissued in vinyl in 2024.