Series Classification: PG
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By Breanna Tugaga-Rogers
Jess goes deep with Botswana-Aotearoa hip-hop artist Phodiso Dintwe about finding home, telling stories through music, and making a career out of a precarious practice.
Botswana-Aotearoa hip-hop artist Phodiso Jess Fu. Photo: Vetiver Pictures, Apela Bell
Phodiso is a man of many talents. As a rapper, percussionist, poet and actor, and part of the African diaspora, Phodiso expresses himself and his identity through many artforms.
“The intention for my art, my music, my expression is informed by who I am in body, in mind and in spirit. That's what I seek to put into my music.”
The up-and-coming rapper is known for his thought-provoking lyricism along with his smooth and slick cadence. With an impressive discography to match, Phodiso released his debut EP Act I back in 2020, the first of a three-EP series.
Amplified host Jess Fu tells us she first discovered the eclectic artist in 2018 through his features on local hip-hop tracks with JessB and Mazbou Q.
Phodiso says that he moved to New Zealand from Botswana when he was only fifteen years old. As one can imagine, the transition of settling down in a whole new country as an adolescent was quite difficult for the young artist, and was not at all what he expected.
“I was on the plane reading the magazine like cool, kia ora, haere mai, all these sorts of things and I was always prepared to hear and see a New Zealand that was very different to what I expected.”
The rapper tells Jess he assumed he’d hear more te reo Māori and expected to see a more multicultural place than what he discovered.
Botswana-Aotearoa hip-hop artist Phodiso. Photo: Vetiver Pictures, Apela Bell
“No one in the UK speaks of New Zealand and lays out what it looks like, what it sounds like, what it tastes like so you can’t really be mentally prepared in any way. It’s just really nice, really laid back and it has black sand beaches!”
Directed by designer and video artist Frandson Bahati, the episode shows adoring childhood photos of Phodiso, contrasted with videos of him maneuvering through Auckland city today, the place he now resides.
“If home for me has been where my grandmother was and being where my parents are, and if they aren't here then I guess I've associated home with my parental figures. Maybe if they were here, I might have that kind of connection but no, Kgatleng and Bobirwa are my homes.”
Jess and Phodiso sit on two separate armchairs on a rooftop, with the skyline of Auckland city resting in the background, as they share their own personal stories of migration.
Jess shares her family’s history as a second-generation Chinese-New Zealander, saying she too feels a great connection to parts in China where her grandparents are from.
I myself am a third-generation Samoan-New Zealander, and have come to learn that places like Tāmaki Makaurau are filled to the brim with stories of migration. In saying that, it is apparent that there needs to be more acknowledgement and respect for mana whenua, the custodians of the lands where we are fortunate enough to be guests and can call this place home.
For Phodiso, connection has been a really important element in helping him find belonging in Aoteaeroa.
Botswana-Aotearoa hip-hop artist Phodiso. Photo: Vetiver Pictures, Apela Bell
“Through my shyness, through my tendency to be quiet, to like come out of my shell enough to be able to be heard and to hear others, and then to form connections and then to get to see New Zealand a little bit more in the light that it’s in, I’ll be able to feel that I am somewhere where I can live.”
Phodiso has a background in theatre which really shows through his music, and that includes effective storytelling. When asked what particular stories he wants to share through music, he says that’s always a difficult question.
“Sometimes you want to choose a thing that's yours, an ideal philosophy that's yours and then after some time, you become a different person and you feel like you've almost chained yourself to that idea, but you’ve evolved, you know?”
Phodiso says that he wants to play more shows and build a career so that he can do music full-time.
“[I want to] be making enough money to take a break and not feel like it's a bad idea. And also to be established enough that I could take a break and not feel like it’s a bad idea, so that's the destination, but how do I get there?”
Phodiso just wants to ensure that all of the time, energy and money he’s put towards his passion doesn’t go to waste.
“I think for the longest time it's been a scary thing for just about everyone involved because you're like, how many years can I put into this, how much money can I put in this, how much time can I put into this, how much energy — that whole burnout thing — until I can finally hit the next level? That’s something that I've realised is on a lot of people's minds whether consciously or subconsciously.”
That is the question on the mind of so many of Aotearoa’s independent artists.
The episode ends with a mesmerising performance of Rough, proving Phodiso certainly has the talent to take it all the way.
Director | Frandson Bahati
Phodiso episode director Frandson Bahati. Photo: Vetiver Pictures, Apela Bell
Frandson Bahati (@frandsonbahati) is a multidisciplinary creative in his final year of study at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts. Born and raised on Auckland’s North Shore, his nationality is Burundian.
Currently focused on fashion design, Frandson founded streetwear label Nineteen99 in 2020 while maintaining a videography practice shooting videos for local fashion labels and musicians.
Photo: NZ On Air
