Rap collective SWIDT are returning with new music, but in the meantime they've released a powerful and goosebump-inducing short film to tell fans what to expect - and it won't be pretty.
*SCROLL FURTHER DOWN TO SEE THE FILM
The group has been widely praised for showcasing brown culture in New Zealand and within Kiwi hip-hop culture in the past, and that was just with their 2017 debut album.
Stoneyhunga was full of party anthems, witty one-two punches, stories about growing up, falling in love and partying hard. It - very often - alluded to struggles with race, identity and gentrification, but with their upcoming album it seems SWIDT have a hell of a lot more to say.
Their short film, released today, features a spoken-word track called Bunga - a slur against Pacific Island peoples - and the whole thing reeks of pent up anger and frustration in the absolute best way.
The film starts out with a serene family scene at the dinner table with relaxed atmospheric jazz music as Samoan actor Chris Alosio lip-syncs the intro: "They call me bunga".
The track then dissects what that means - or what people assume it means; "They poke fun at the accent, only speak one language", "a park bench for an address... I share a room with six relatives, we draw heat from a stovetop element".
From that moment on, every utterance of the word "bunga" hits like a drumbeat, spurring the track on into wilder, faster and harder territory until we hit a Kendrick Lamar-level point frenzy of brass, anger, and lines that cut to the bone.
Chris Alosio appears in SWIDT's short film, Bunga. Photo / Supplied
"That's a bunga, unless you're scoring tries for the All Blacks - then you're Kiwi", "Even if they see me then it's usually on the TV - Police 10/7...they're profiling".
Bungas are "dole bludgers, down low dirty soul suckers / Dark complexions so they don't trust us / Dark complexions so they don't love us".
It hits on intergenerational cycles of abuse, racism, disadvantage and "stolen land", ending on the line: "They really be calling us leeches? The audacity. But I guess it is warranted - 'til they need us, bungas."
All the while, the video is filled with red and blue lights, a nod to the Black Panthers, and the disintegration of the idyllic home life, replaced with one man looking down on two police.
"Hard hitting" is an understatement. Particularly once you unpack all the hidden meanings in the film, like the fact that it was shot in Herne Bay, inside the only Pacific-owned home on the street, currently occupied by a Tongan family who have lived there for four generations.
And here's the most impressive part: this isn't even a single. This is just a statement of intent from the hip-hop collective, ahead of highly-anticipated new music on the way.
If Bunga is anything to go by, SWIDT will not be holding any punches.
