One of the voices that rang out loudly and clearly from the Black Lives Matter march earlier this year was the voice of Mazbou Q. The artist has just released a new EP, had a child and is contemplating what it means to focus all your energy on your local music scene when touring overseas isn’t possible anymore. We got together before his upcoming Neck of the Woods show to talk about his EP Afroternity, the thriving communtity of Black artists in Auckland and how he’s embracing a new vulnerabilty in his art.

“Why do I have to be like this standoffish political mouthpiece all the time? Maybe in order to take the next step as a musician, I have to share a little more of myself. ”

First off, how have you handled this last lockdown? Both as an artist and just as a human?

The live aspect has been challenging, not getting to play… But other than that it’s been transformative. I’ve had to step back and assess other ways of being creative and making ends meet.

And outside of music it’s been cool... I’ve got a young daughter who’s been keeping me busy.

And you released a new EP in the middle of all this!

Yeah I released an EP called Afroternity at the start of May. The tour that’s coming up now was supposed to be that tour. So my new single I released was written to energise this tour.

I wrote Icon Status after the Black Lives Matter march. I guess the thought behind it was just a reflection on everything that had gone on this year, in terms of there being a shift in my own goals and aspirations. Prior to this year, I had in my mind that I was going overseas. In the opening parts of that song I literally say I was getting ready to get on a plane.

But then COVID came along and all those plans suddenly changed?

It was threefold: finding out my daughter was on the way postponed my plans. The second was COVID and then the third part was me realising that the musical identity I was creating centred around this idea of me being a Black New Zealander and that being quite a revolutionary thing in its own right. If I was to import that overseas it wouldn’t have the same impact as it does here. So I asked myself does it make sense to have this goal like, I must go overseas, and be talking about being a Black New Zealander in another market. So being iconic is about establishing myself in more respects.

Let’s talk more about that Black Lives Matter march. Was that your first time leading a protest?

I had been involved in protests before, never on the organisational side. To be honest when the idea was pitched to me, which was literally less than 24 hours before the actual protest, I was quite reluctant. Not from a principle standpoint, I love the idea. Just from a pragmatic standpoint, I’m like I don’t see how this is going to work. Let’s give this at least a week to plan. But I kind of got steamrolled in the meeting, which I’m glad happened because the protest was amazing. It was the perfect time for it.

You talked about embracing your identity as a Black New Zealander. What did the BLM march mean to you in those respects?

Knowing that my presence and the presence of my peers on that stage and on that platform was impacting for a lot of the younger people there who have felt not heard, who do feel hurt by what’s going on around the world but don’t feel like anyone is able to represent that pain and have it spoken to … knowing that was quite a significant thing.

It seems like it was a unifying experience for Black musicians in the community too.

Yeah everyone came together. We have all spoken on that to varying degrees in our music. Because we have this common experience of ... feeling a bit alienated, feeling like we have kinship overseas…

One thing that’s become really evident since the BLM march and the first lockdown even, is the thriving community of Black artists and creatives in our local music scene.

It’s for that reason there was some frustration around our lack of visibility and representation in NZ music media. We did have some quite frank words with some of the radio stations about them using Black music to profit and gain but not really have that same energy when it came to Black issues and when it came to local Black artists.

Do you feel like since that‘s been brought to the surface and discussed do you see the possibility for change now?

We’re going to have to keep the pressure on. The conversation at the time was trending but this is something that needs to persist beyond the trend because trends come like waves. So when the water rescinds we still need to be having these conversations and making sure our issues are still talked about and our music, our creation, not just music but our art, in general, is given the shine it deserves.

You’ve released the Afroternity EP under a new name. How did your name change come about?

Unchained XL was a name I got stuck with early on. I started this whole rap thing because a really close friend was doing some rap videos for fun and he asked me to do something with him. So I did that and discovered I really loved it. Unchained was just the first name that came to mind so I kind of just went with it. But I never really liked it and I soon got to the point where I felt like I’d gone too far to change it. So I started retrospectively adding meaning to the name. It got to the point where it ironically started boxing me in. I’d built this really outspoken political identity around Unchained XL and I realised there were other parts of me that I wanted to be able to express through music but didn’t fit the brand.

So, I’d been thinking about the name change for a while but then 2020 came around and it felt like the right time for so many reasons. My daughter coming through so I had a big life change. Afroternity I actually wrote last year and that music started to sound a little different so I decided it was time to make the shift to something that felt a lot more me.

A more playful name for music that’s a little more playful?

A good friend commented on all the music I was releasing and he said “you know you don't always have to write political stuff aye?. My first reaction was like “bro, what?” but I could understand what he was saying. I’d listen to a lot of artists who’d have these big political songs but they’d also have this song that’s really vulnerable. That can be quite a confronting experience and a way to connect with the audience.

Why do I have to be like this standoffish political mouthpiece all the time? Maybe in order to take the next step as a musician, I have to share a little more of myself. So that’s why I wrote that song To The Gates which was quite a personal song and the video that came with it was obviously quite emotionally laden. So I was like ok if I’m even going to even dabble in music like that and put that out to the world then yeah I should think about updating my brand.

You recorded and produced this album in your home studio. Is producing for other artists something you’re looking at?

100% … That’s one of the things I’ve been ramping up over lockdown. To get some extra coin and to build my portfolio for the future. Both producing and engineering.

I started production in high school. We were using Fruity Loops Version 3 which will blow people’s minds now because it’s up to like 20 now. I had a hacked version and I started making some sounds. Throughout uni I was producing for the metal band I was in. Production was the primary way for me creating - performing was the secondary means of getting it out there. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a producer than a performer. I do love performing but if I had to pick one it would probably be production.

With the current global climate, we’ve ended up with a live music scene that is 100% local. What are your hopes for the near future of our scene?

I hope that New Zealand wakes up a little more to the extent of talent and ability locally here. To be honest, its embarrassing how little NZ music is on the radio, it’s embarrassing how little NZ music the average person knows, its embarrassing that the average person doesn’t really go to local shows, has no idea that they’re even on. For an industry that prides itself so much on its music … I’m hoping this forces us to come to grips with what we have.

How do we fix things now we’ve got the chance?

I’d love to see 80 - 90% NZ music played on radio normatively and then when we have Aotearoa NZ Music Month … 100%.

A lot of things flow on from that. If you have NZ music on radio predominantly, that’s what New Zealanders will come to expect. And when they know that music is in their backyard, they’ll be like “Oh my favourite artist is playing at this venue for 20 bucks” Instead of having to wait for their favourite artist to come from America or the UK and pay $300. Because all THOSE artists had a local community that backed them. At the moment it feels like the main music listenership live is just other musicians. I got to shows now and it’s literally just other musicians. Why is it just our own community that’s keeping us afloat? It’s awesome that our community is so supportive but why is like that?! Unless you’re L.A.B or Drax Project or something… There’s like the big 5 and outside of that…

New Zealander’s can be quite awkward and uncomfortable about fanning out over music in their own backyard. So maybe part of it is New Zealanders just having to get over that perceived cringe. Cos there’s nothing else now. It’s just us now.

It’s just us! There’s no one else. I have a friend who teaches in high school and she played my music to her students and they were like “oh, who’s this?!” And when she told them it was a friend of hers they were like “oh … a New Zealand artist? Oh”. What’s that about?! What’s the stigma behind NZ music?! Whereas somewhere like America that would be unheard of. For all my disdain of American patriotism, I at least appreciate it results in them really loving their own music.

What do you love about performing?

Just connecting with audiences, inspiring audiences and giving them a good time. One thing that I always do is make sure people bunch in and come forward before I even start. The culture I came from in the punk and metal community was all like we’re in this together, let’s do this, we’re creating this moment together. I like getting people sweaty.

What should people expect at this upcoming show?

Come with a lot of energy. If you haven’t seen me play before, I might seem a little different to other hiphop acts in the sense that … just the overall energy of the song. I came from a rock and metal background so I’m very interested in arranging my music in a way that gives it that extra bite live. So what you hear on Spotify is not exactly what you’ll hear live. Live it’s like everything’s on steroids .. with more aggression, more electricity. There’s drums, there’s guitars in there. It’ll feel like a rock show and I like that.

Mazbou Q is performing at Neck of the Woods on September 26 with support from Ill Baz, Soraya and Pom.

This is one of our first scheduled shows once we open back up so get your tickets now!

WHEN THE WATER RESCINDS

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