Tāmaki Makaurau’s Liam Dargaville is Dbldbl. Proudly Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, they bring forth a neat blend of minimalist beats and thoughtful, smart raps that dig deep into a lot of potentially divisive – but requiring attention – subjects. This latest single, Fakey, features a collaboration with fellow hip-hop and rap artist Randa.

Firstly I have to doff my cap to the trippy video on the You Tubes. We have psychedelic undertones, overtones… just psychedelic tones! The period vibe is reinforced by it being delivered via analog CRT. Dbldbl and Randa are placed atop a spinning Lazy Susan and it goes from there. I’ll not deliver any further spoilers so go check it out. Kudos to Sports Team video production, especially the chap who does some manual labour rotating the Lazy Susan. Apparently we’re advised to look out for his hand making the odd cameo. Fame!

The duo appear to really gel in the vid, and this transfers to the feel of the duet in the recorded work. Randa‘s lines are quite saucy and stare-ya-down, which the vid portrays cheekily and with a twinkle in the eye. Coupled with Dbldbl‘s smooth flow, not to mention the ability to dance like me (I am spell-binding, I assure you), it makes for a very entertaining, not cluttered mastering. I don’t have the deets on where or who with regard to the studio, but they have done well. If this is your type of genre for earworm material, you’ll do well by giving this your time and attention.

The subject is complex. Dbldbl explains in the EPK: “floating between different spaces, scenes, and peoples while navigating my place with and amongst them and how I’m seen. I’m consistently being misgendered, even in spaces where I’m known, a part of, and deeply connected to. Fakey explores, feelings of being an imposter versus feeling myself, slipping in and out of different skins as a form of adaptation and ‘survival’, and just a dash of cultural disconnect, shame, and guilt.”

Catch them performing this, as well as some other collaborations Dbldbl has indulged in, at Whammy Backroom on 4th May this year, up there in the City of Sails. This is hitting Juice TV and the Mai FM, George FM scene. It’s on Flash-Trax‘s Spotify so if you’re a listener to our playlist go find it there too. Long gone are the days of mysoginy and violence as the go-to for acts in this cluster of genres. Such a thing was never the bulk of the material from rap, hip-hop, or their ilk – it just got a lot more eyes and ears than maybe it deserved to, and gave the whole family a reputation it maybe didn’t fully deserve. Thoughtful, visually-savvy artists like Dbldbl and Randa too, really make this stuff worthwhile.

It’s going to be a monster in clubland. Enjoy.