Coco Solid is a fuckin’ sick underground electro rapper seducing and shaking live crowds while churning out bangers from Auckland City, New Zealand. Combining Miami and Detroit booty-bass with her own trademark minimal electro, she’s rhyming about everything; sex, science and the daily grind…Here’s an interview TASH did with her for Issue 1.

Tash: When did you start performing?

 

CoCo: I was in a rap/punk band called The Pussies with 3 other girls in 2002. We were a motley crew, made up of Samoan, Balinese, Maori and Indian. We were all pretty young and crazy. I got my nickname Coco Solid around this time and after the band broke up in 2003 I stuck with it cos everyone called me that. I was always the homegirl of the group i guess. I went on to do live shows with my favourite electro DJ Erik Ultimate and he turned out to be a great deep-voiced rapper/writer and was my partner in crime for awhile. I never knew it would evolve and I would go on to do some of the shows and tours that I have done - life is mental!

Tell us about your crew…[eric, your sisters etc]

 

Friends and family are a big part of it for me, but I’m side-project bonkers too. Theres Erik Ultimate, my DJ Han Baby, our punk producer ALC5 and I’ve recently started working with Robin Hannibal from Denmark. We’ve got a project called The Parallel Dance Ensemble, its 80’s rap with disco and a bit of new-wave in there. Thats my focus right now. I rap with my three sisters Hayley J, She-Wizard and Baby Steps. We’re a musical family. I make music with my friends overseas too- rappers and producers all over the world who I’ve met along the way like Pepepe in Mexico and Violet in Portugal. I also have a punk thing in the background called ‘Bad Energy’ which is me and my local homeboys Hemi & Sam. I love maintaining the underground music while grinding on a hip hop level too. It chills out the bullshit a bit! 

Your music is a blend of hip hop, punk, electro and miami bass booty music…who/what are

some of your musical influences?

Oh god. I love music, its a big part of who i am - as a fan and as a maker. I love hip hop. Dirty, clean, back-packer, club-banger, old-school, futuristic, dudes, girl-rap, political, commercial, drugs,  I’m into it all. Take electro, rock, punk, booty, metal, and you get the picture. I could geek out about music forever and I try to have that come through in the stuff I make and the diverse projects I undertake.

 

Name your top three favourite 80s female emcees!!

 

What!! This question is torcher!!

Ok. I would say these were from my formative childhood years. I remember being obsessed with three songs. Neneh Cherry ‘Buffalo Stance’. Dimples D ‘Sucker DJ’ (with the ‘I Dream of Genie’ sample) and basically anything from Salt & Peppa. (I also think Grace Jones and Debbie Harry are totally under-rated for their cryptic contributions). I got into the old school stuff when I was a teenager. Roxanne Shante definitely influenced me.

I bought your superfresh pink vinyl EP “Graffiti girls for life” in Auckland recently. Initially

I peeped it coz I was intrigued by the title, and when I listened to it I fell in love with your old school 80s NY aesthetics and raw, playful, simplistic flow. I couldn’t believe it came outta N.Z!

First things first, do you write graffiti?

 

Me and my sisters grew up in south Auckland which is one of the hearts of NZ hip hop. My childhood was saturated in graffiti. Under the Mangere Bridge was a magical place for me. It’s almost sunk into the harbour now! We would tag on desks, buses, books but we were no Style Wars, it was very sweet and I have alot of friends who are far more gifted in the craft these days. As for me, I stick to rapping. 

 

We called ourselves The Graffiti Girls cause it took us back to a more innocent time I think. And all four of us together as sisters are a force to be reckoned with and we needed a name to reflect that. 

 

Even your music artwork has that DIY/homemade attitude…Who does your artwork? Do you come up with the ideas?

Erik Ultimate does alot of the psychedelic symmetrical colorful stuff and Zelda Murray has also done artwork for me on a couple of records. I’ve definitely collabed on a couple of ideas but I am so lucky that an artist is never far away in my group of friends. Being a musician opens up that kind of opportunity for art, film and fashion - it broadens the collective of people and brings new energy to the original vision.

Do you collect anything? [sneakers/earrings/records etc]

Man I collect everything, its terrible!

Records. Magazines. Earrings. Comics. Sneakers. Jackets. Books. Vitamins. Lipstick. Awesome gay guys. Foreign coins. Recipes. Lighters. Stationary.

 

“COCO SOLID”- the name conjures up images of Chanel meets the thuggin’ So-Solid Crew outta the UK. I gotta ask…Just like me and Lily….are you a Chanel gal?

 

 

Yes, oh god yes! Not the whole story but Chanel is a big influence in the ancestry of my name. I live in an imaginary YSL, Dior, Gucci, LV, Roberto Cavali, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs fantasy-land. But unless its from an op shop, a fragrance or fits in my palm, I keep my label thing pretty moderated. I do like my Chanel 80’s though. Oh who am I kidding! I love it all. Generous millionaires, take note!

Women rapping about sexuality is more accepted in electro than Australasian hip hop.

Why do you think that is?

 

One of the founders of NYC electroclash Larry Tee once said electro excited him more than hip hop because it allowed for more women leadership. Peaches, Princess Superstar, Fischerspooner, Chicks On Speed, The Roger Sisters, Le Tigre… these were all women and they took all different angles and avenues when expressing their sexuality. That diversity and effortless feminism (they weren’t battling the stereotype, they became the stereotype)  definitely attracted me to the sound I think… I just put it into the hip hop I made. It made it more relevant to me and my background and I have never been afraid of mixing worlds. 

 

Some people say your music is a “piss-take”…

Is this true or are you dead serious what you rap about?

Both. A sense of humour has been my biggest weapon in life and it seaps through into my music definitely. Its just what I’m like as a person, I’m pretty self-aware and treat life with a joke when it sux. But I have my ‘don’t fuck with me’ musical moments too. Sometimes I like to take a break from the experimental with schtick and remind people I’m a tough cookie and I’ve been through alot. Some stuff on a political level is there to be rapped about, its your obligation I think. In a sense my very existence as an independent multi-cultural female rapper/producer is a bit serious. So I make sure I have fun with the responsibility.

 

Tell us about your you-tube video with Flight of the Conchords which to this day has had over half a million hits. How did you hook up with these guys?

Jemaine and Bret are amazing. Really low-key like most New Zealand bands on the struggle I guess haha.

I met them through a friend and we were in Texas at the same time which is how the video came about. It was pretty casual and for an old doco of theirs. I had no idea a year later they were going to be that scarily huge! Half a million hits to watch me rap half asleep in the street still cracks me up. 

 

Whats next for CoCo Solid?

I’m recording an album with Robin Hannibal (keep an eye out for Parallel Dance Ensemble everyone!). I have a punk record coming out with ‘Bad Energy’. I’m going back over to Europe in 2010 and I plan to do another tour. Arohanui and solidarity to anyone who gets my buzz over there. X