Chris Faiumu and other band members have said their biggest influence is their home country of New Zealand, and their peers in Wellington's "small-but-solid" music scene.
The band has navigated their way from the early days of sunshine reggae to a potent mixture of jazz virtuosity, disco, rootsy dub, blues, soul and electronic funk.
Their hit singles Wandering Eye, Boondigga, Blackbird and others are firm favourites on people's playlists all over the world.
Not many bands have been so strategic in their approach to a long-term career.
Creating a blueprint with a global perspective, the band has consolidated their fanbases across Europe and the UK with high profile performances accompanied by slow burn albums that reveal more and more with every listen, priming the fans for the next live experience.
For Fat Freddy's Drop, it's about the long game, a path that has come about by careful stylistic evolution, ever increasing production values and a live reputation that precedes their recorded material.
The band's acclaimed studio and live albums present a finely crafted sonic progression born of a constant hunger for the new, though always tempered by an unshakable faith in the bass music of Jamaica and the importance of real songs with real soul. It's a sound fit perfectly for an outdoor summer setting.
Fat Freddy's Drop may have been around for two decades, independently releasing music since 1999, yet they are constantly reinventing themselves and easily fill huge arenas around the world with fans that just can't get enough of their groovy sound.
The band's largest festival appearance was headlining Rock En Seine, Paris, to a packed crowd of 35,000, matched by Boomtown Festival 2016 and Rototom Sunsplash, Italy 2018.
No two shows in their upcoming New Zealand summer roadie will be the same as the band brings a curated roster of special guests featuring neo-soul star Bailey Wiley, Taite Prize winner Tom Scott's Avantdale Bowling Club, powerhouse L.A.B, hip-hop wildflower JessB, dancehall queen Silva MC, dub rockers Tunes of I, Australian soulful loop artist Dub FX and bilingual Persian-Kiwi rapper Chaii.
Plus, a heavyweight line-up of international DJs including Jazzy Jeff and David Rodigan.
After the New Zealand summer tour, the group is off to the UK and Europe again, launching straight into their Album Release Tour for Special Edition Part 1 starting with a visit to Switzerland with Kiwi singer Ladi6 as their special guest.
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