Rap group garnering national attention

Jono and Ben's Guy Williams, second from left, has been in Whanganui filming a segment with Whanganui rap group Machete Clan, all former WHS students.

Photo: Left to right; Dylan Blythe, Guy Williams, Roman Kerr, Alex Judd Nuttall, Isaac Chamberlain and Josh Dey.

Whanganui rap group Machete Clan's grassroots rise has caught the eye of national television with the group to feature on Three's Jono and Ben.

The show's Guy Williams was in Wanganui over the weekend filming with the group for a segment which will appear in the coming weeks.

Machete Clan traces back to when Whanganui musician Isaac Chamberlain (former WHS student) began producing tracks in 2013.

"It was me making music and people came on and spit a rap here and there," he said.

That settled into a group which became Machete Clan which has so far produced two albums and an EP.

But it is 2016 single On The Rark which is helping Machete Clan spread from a small tight-knit Whanganui group to the rest of the country.

"It's sort of become an anthem," Chamberlain said.

On The Rark is pushing 1.5 million streams on Spotify with the video being watched more than 350,000 times on Youtube.

They're remarkable numbers for an unprompted, DIY group.

"We just tapped into the right crowd I guess," Chamberlain said of the group's ironic, fun party raps based on the local Whanganui scene and slang.

"Everyone takes themselves so seriously making hip hop but our whole thing's got this exaggerated Whanganui bullshit."

Chamberlain, who is also a guitarist for Whanganui metal band Drxnes, said Machete Clan were working on another album and would be touring the country again at the end of the year.

Jono and Ben airs on Thursdays at 7.30pm but it was not yet known which week the Machete Clan segment will air.

By Zaryd Wilson
Wanganui Chronicle 5/9/18