Young rap duo making waves around the country

Church & AP may be young but they are already making waves on the national and international hip-hop circuit. Photo / Supplied

A chance encounter over a mutual love of an international rapper led two young musicians to form a duo which has seen them make waves around the country.

Yet at just 18 and 19, Elijah Manu and Albert Purcell, better known as Church & AP, are just getting started.

Together they are "Yin and Yang".

"I like to talk a lot and AP kind of has a very quiet demeanour. In everything he does he stays calm," Church notes.

2018 marked their first year as a duo - four years after first meeting in the school yard.

And with AP fresh out of high school, and Church in his last year, neither of them realised just how quickly they would soar to stardom.

Their single Ready or Not was the most shazamed song in the country prior to its release and was recently played on UK's famed BBC Radio 1xtra via radio presenter and DJ Jaz Supernova.

The likes of David Dallas and SWIDT have also taken notice, particularly for Church's standout 64 Bars performance.

"It was definitely something that was unexpected, but also very cool," Auckland-based Church says.

Now out of school, they are both planning on focusing more time on their craft.

They are not confined by the bounds of their genre. Instead, blend a distinctive sound with their everyday observations of clout, societal pressures, tall poppy syndrome, and life in Aotearoa.

"... as much as a teenager can speak on the important things on life," Church notes.

"I feel that we do a decent job of that. There are times where we have a message that we want to tell and we format a song around that. Other times, it's way more unintentional and it is just us talking about life."

Their song Bill$ Pt.2 from nine-track EP Thorough Bread does just that.

"We wanted everything to be intentional. To me, it is one of the most important songs that we have ever written because it is so close to our personal lives.

"I know it is important for my parents, when they heard it, they were very emotional, which is a very cool thing for someone to be able to do - to be able to bring out emotion from a song."

Formatted as a prayer, it begins with "Dear Heavenly Father" and ends with "Amen" - calling on God to help them.

"It's that idea that people live bill to bill and that's something that I've grown up with ... At the end of the day, all I want is just to be able to take care of my family."

It is a "narrative" which they want to change.

"We want to be able to make a living out of what we are doing now ... and one where we create opportunities for us to get money that's never really been seen in our families."

Prior to their recent successes, both families were sceptical of creating a career out of rap, yet now, they are fully supportive.

"It's hard at first obviously because when you tell your parents that you want to do rap, there's no real reference point of rappers in New Zealand that make a good living off what they do ... but we've been able to calm them and they trust us now that we're making the right decisions."

However, for Church, his parents have dreams for him to go to university - the first in his family to do so.

They are currently on an extensive "Communities Tour" around the North Island, which will see them stop off in Hawke's Bay this Friday. To them, the live show is where they have the most impact.

"We try and make sure there is an organic energy that's there that is really exciting for anybody in attendance.

"We just have to carry that same momentum, the tour is one of the ways we are doing that, but just making sure not to rest on our laurels or anything like that, just be ready for whatever's next."

Church & AP will be playing at the Clive Rugby Club on Friday.
For more information visit: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/ticket/9501/Church--AP.utr