Rappers call it quits

The Deceptikonz have come a long way since recording songs on cassette tapes with "$2 mics in the bedroom".

They've become mainstays on the Kiwi music scene, all four members - Mareko, Savage, Alphrisk and Devolo - have scored top 10 solo singles, and the biggest success story of the group, Savage, has clocked up two million sales of his song Swing in the United States, making it the highest-selling New Zealand single in American history.

However, it seems some things never change because on the group's latest - and most likely last - album, Evolution: Past-Present-Beyond, they are still proclaiming themselves as the best rappers around.

It's just like the formative years of the group in the late 90s when they would saunter along to parties and MC battles, and while their opponents bragged about taking them down in a drive-by shooting, Mareko and his mates would be proclaiming themselves the best rappers in the world.

"We were just a group of neighbourhood friends who had a passion for hip-hop. At that time it was pretty rare for a bunch of South Auckland kids to be into KRS-One and Nas, because most of the kids our age were into West Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap.

"Our approach was totally new and fresh. In the battle rhymes we were just talking about being the best in the universe," laughs rapper and producer Mareko on the phone from his new home on Australia's Gold Coast.

But now, after 10 years at the forefront of the local music scene, they're calling it quits. It's time to move on reckons Mareko, the tall, burly and deep voiced one of the bunch, although, he's not ruling out doing something in the future. "When we're, like, 43. Or when we're the pension rappers," he says.

"But we are all happy with what we've accomplished as a group, both within hip-hop, as musicians, and for New Zealand music in general. We'd rather go out with a bang than slowly die off - and I think we've created a lasting legacy with Dkonz because you can't talk about New Zealand hip-hop without mentioning Dkonz. We had a big impact on not just hip-hop but the whole music scene."

Of course, it's Savage who has made the biggest impression but Mareko says there was never any tension brought about by their mate's success.

"His success was our success," he says. "Behind the scenes we were backing him up all the way, like, 'Man, you've got to do it for us and a lot of other people are depending on you to succeed'. When he was holding up an award we were all holding up an award."

Another contributing factor to calling it a day is that the group's record contract with long-time label Dawn Raid comes to an end with the release of Evolution on July 5 (although they will be releasing solo albums through the company in the future).

A concert, Evolution in its Final Stages, which also features performances from P-Money, David Dallas, and up-and-coming underground groups Homebrew and the Usual Suspects, will be held at Auckland's Studio on July 10.

The Deceptikonz gathered at the end of last year to start working on the album-and it was the first time since 2002 debut Elimination they had sat down in a room together to come up with concepts and then write the rhymes.

So it's no surprise Evolution has the same sonic and anthemic hip-hop mood as Elimination. It is, as Mareko describes it, "hard out", especially on tracks like What with P Money and staunch final track, Standing Ovation.

"We set out to go back to our Elimination roots and our vintage Deceptikonz sound because a lot of the stuff we have released has strayed away from that." And he says the title is fitting because they're getting older, and a little wiser. "I turn 29 tomorrow [June 15], and that's granddaddy years in hip-hop," he jokes. "We've evolved, the sound has evolved, we've grown up, and we've all got families now."

LOWDOWN

Who: The Deceptikonz
New album: Evolution: Past-Present-Beyond, out July 5
Past albums: Elimination (2002); Heavy Rotation (2006)
Live: The Studio, K Rd, July 10