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Israel Starr talks about NiceUp TV – a new project focusing on promoting the people building bass culture in Aotearoa, and world-wide.

So Israel, can you tell us a bit about NiceUp TV and how it came about?

Bless up crew.  Well its basically an online YouTube TV channel which at this stage consists of interviews and music videos from reggae/dancehall artists and all branches of reggae, i.e. hip hop and drum n bass.  It has a strong emphasis on Aotearoa artists. It also includes interviews with producers, marketers, promoters etc, so it’s really giving an all-round view of the scene in Aotearoa.

I wanted to do something that gave light and exposure to a whole lot of people including those who have been working in the underground for a life time, and also the up and coming players in the game. So far I’ve learnt so much, and I never realised how much I didn’t know about the history of the different scenes in Aotearoa.  It’s amazing finding out what happened before my life time, what people have done and what players are doing now!

So yeah, it came about through just wanting to promote the music, because no one was really doing it like this and I thought it was the only logical step for the scene.

I’ve really enjoyed it so far and I’m sure the heads out there will enjoy it too.

What kind of content is up there at the moment?

At the moment we’ve started off with footage from some big international artists like Jah Mason and Deadly Hunta that was taken when we went to Australia for the Byron Bay Reggae Festival. There are also a few interviews from established, and also from up and coming artists and producers.

I will be putting a lot of emphasis on artists in the underground who are on their way up, because I want them to look back and be like, ‘yeah NiceUp TV was my first ever visual interview and it gave me a lot of exposure and now look at where I’m at today’! It’s like when you go and search in YouTube for an interview from an artist and the search result comes up with the title ‘RARE First Interview’, and it ends up being one when they were young as hell and real shy in front of the camera, and they can look back at these interviews with fond memories.

I’ve been carrying out some real interesting interviews with old school players who helped spark the hip-hop/ battle scene in Aotearoa, but you’ll have to watch them to find out who they are! And we can’t forget the big acts in Aotearoa!

These will all be drip-fed to the public, so you have to stay tuned!

What can people expect to see in the future?

More and more NiceUp content, different artists, and everything from concert reviews to the latest videos from Aotearoa and abroad.

If there are any artists/crews/producers that want to get involved, and maybe get some interviews happening, what is the best way they can do this?

Yeah they should definitely link us.  Email the NiceUp Crew, let us know what you’re up to, where we can find links to what you’re doing and we can go from there. We’re always keen to link and work with people that are making moves. It’s great promotion for crews, artist and promoters who are serious about what they want to achieve.

Shout outs!

X-amount of respect to all the artists that we’ve interviewed so far. Everyone that’s made this possible! The NiceUp and Newtown Sound crew, DJ Art, Undercover, you Vanita, and all the other players, the bro Pretzel in Australia who has been by my side from day one of this project teaching me loads. The bro Shan and his audio visual company, and for having the big guns to hold the camera all night.

It’s been a huge effort from a lot of people and I’ll give you their links below!

And also a big up to the public who love Aotearoa music, bless up!


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