A quick word with Savage, the hip-hop star-turned-high school teacher in new TV show Hip-Hop High.
In this fish out of water-meets-reality talent series, Savage is on a crusade to teach a bunch of Dunedin high school students the ways of hip-hop with the grand prize of a trip to New York to perform for some big-wig record company executives. The only problem is his class is made up of youngsters like country-singing Mitch, earnest academic Hayden, and the 1st XV captain known as Smarty, who the South Auckland-born artist puts in his place right from the start: "You're not going to be a smart arse are you?
Why didn't you do Hip-Hop High in South Auckland? Because arguably there are kids in your area who would benefit more from the opportunity that the show offers?
At first, that's what I was fighting for. I would have loved to have done it here, but there's a broader message. Hip-Hop High reaches out to the average Kiwi who doesn't listen to hip-hop and gives them an idea about what hip-hop music is. We're not just taking these students and teaching them what it's all about, we're taking the whole country. And if I did it in South Auckland, students know everything about hip-hop. But I'm from South Auckland, I've been representing for South Auckland my whole career, so there is still a fair amount of South Auckland in there.
Maybe that's the next TV show?
Yeah but if I had done it in South Auckland I probably would have definitely had to bring back the cane. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
Did you catch yourself starting to sound like one of your teachers from Wesley College?
You have no idea how difficult it was standing on the other side of the desk and [being] the one who is actually in front of the whiteboard. I was the class clown at school and this gave me a different, and totally new respect for teachers and how hard they work. But at the same time if you are passionate about it like I'm passionate about hip-hop, it comes easy. I think the main thing I got though from taking the classes is that the key thing is respect. If you can respect your students then they respect you.
Which of the students reminded you most of yourself at school do you think?
I think Smarty would probably be the closest but to be honest I was a bit of a ... how do I say it? I didn't do well at school as a teenager, I went through a difficult upbringing, and what it comes down to is that I grew up in a rough area, and a broken home, and as a teenager you can only imagine how frustrating that was. So at high school I was a bit of a rebel.
Were you governed by the rules and regulations set out by the Ministry of Education? Or did you get hip-hop privileges?
I think I did get hip-hop privileges but I wasn't going to go back to the days of the cane, you know what I mean [laughs].
Did you have to teach them that special hip-hop bro hand shake that you hip-hop guys do - because it's pretty hard to master for someone who's not in the know?
The handshake, for me, is normal, but when I went to Dunedin and saw how awkward they were doing it, I thought, "Wow, this is crazy". But it's not a secret handshake, that's just how we greet each other. And they pretty much got it [during the course of the show] and the difference between a hip-hop artist and your average Kiwi is that instead of a formal handshake it's more of a hug.
So what did you think at the start of the show when the students performed for you and they were doing everything from playing the bagpipes to dancing a jig?
I felt like Ashton Kutcher was going to come round the corner and say "You've been punked". But it was very uncomfortable for me. It was unsettling for me because that is a whole other world of talent compared to what I do and I never in a million years thought you'd able to mold these kids into hip-hop students.
Well, we shall see if you can?
Keep watching. I'm really glad I did it and I still keep in touch with those students. And when I do shows in Dunedin they always come out.
LOWDOWN
What: Hip-Hop High
When: Saturday, 5.30pm
Where: TV2
-TimeOut
