It used to be that a group of like-minded individuals operating and producing from a shared creative space on K Road was a key part of inner-city Auckland’s culture.
Sadly, rising rents and gentrification has seen much of this culture, if not lost, slowly asphyxiated.
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So it’s exciting to see Badcrop, and the Grow Room collective, pushing through the adversity of rising rents, and $4 flat whites, to have something of their own.
Badcrop’s “Dig That” articulates the fight against rising commercialism in Auckland’s artistic hub, with rappers EO and Faz punching in two short but complex verses over a beat from the Grow Room’s Light Skin John.
Fittingly, “Dig That” appears on a musical ode and celebration to another cultural relic- the cassette tape. As part of International Cassette Store Day, Noisey is throwing a free party at Auckland’s Cassette Nine this Saturday. As well as the dusty soul rap Badcrop, SoccerPractise and Skux will be performing and the first 200 people through the door score a free Noisey Cassette Day tape that features the acts playing.
Entry is FREE all you need to do is RSVP here.
Check out the single below, and some words we had with Faz.
Noisey: “Dig That” extends the horticultural metaphor of your name and collective. What are some of the shared characteristic between the behaviour of humans and plants?
Faz: All things living are sentient beings like you and I, we are all connected internally and externally. As humans we tend to entertain the idea of superiority, just because a tree does not move at the same speed as us or speak to us with the same language, it does not mean we are more intelligent.
Do you feel pressure to have a good collection of botanical knowledge on deck?
Learning about permaculture and monoculture doesn’t hurt anyone. The more we begin to understand about our feelings and environment, the more we realise it all runs parallel. If i could recommend one book it would be The Secret Life of Plant’s by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird.
You’re headlining the Noisey Cassette Store Day party tonight at Cassette Nine…any memorable or favourite cassette you remember owning?
I remember having Outkast’s Speakerboxxx / The Love Below tape the year it came out, I used to read the lyrics while rapping that song ‘The Way You Move’ at my old house on the north shore. It was always that one cassette tape you had in the car so it was the only thing getting played.
Badcrop, SoccerPractise and Skux appear at the Noisey International Cassette Story Day party at Cassette Nine this Saturday. The first 200 through the door get a free exclusive Noisey Cassette Store Day tape.
Entry is FREE all you need to do is RSVP here.
