Hailing from Christchurch New Zealand maitreya is an MC with a mood and a message to renew the faith of Hip Hop heads worldwide. His soulful melodies punctuated by tight, head nodding beats and rhymes made him the first ever hip hop artist to crowd-source US$50,000 to record his debut solo album Close To Home.
The result is an impressively eclectic body of work delivered by an artist with a rare and unmistakable honesty. The album listens as a story taking you on a journey thru sound into the tragedies and victories of an everyday hero who has taken his craft from Christchurch, New Zealand to stages in New York, Hong Kong, London and Amsterdam.
So dig out your De La Soul, cue up your Lupe Fiasco, slap on some Streets and they will all be in good company... you'll recognize the emotional honesty and depth, but like all great artists... maitreya does it his way.
Biography
maitreya began his career as part of live Christchurch Hip Hop band NILSTATE gaining a cult like following and a reputation for unpredictable & explosive performances. Moving to Auckland in '96, maitreya joined DARK TOWER who took the nation by storm touring to sold-out venues all over the country and collaborating with such artists as Dave Dobbyn, The feelers and Tiki Taane. In ’01 maitreya went solo recording with NZ Hip Hop legend DLT, Nesian Mystik and Pete Wood of Salmonella Dub as well as becoming a popular on air personality at Auckland radio station Mai FM.
In '03, maitreya took his skills to the Mecca of Hip Hop, New York City, where he secured an internship at Roc-a-Fella Records (Jay-Z). For the next three years, he worked for Roc-a-Fella and immersed himself in New York's Open Mic scene, eventually getting his own show Illegal in and around the Lower East Side. In 2005 he released an album/mixtape ILLEGAL ALIEN hosted by The Game’s DJ, DJ Kris-Stylz and sold 500 copies on the streets of New York.
In '06, maitreya hit SellaBand.com with a fresh repertoire of songs and became an immediate sensation, crowd-sourcing 50K in just 7 months. The album, produced by The Silence & maitreya, was recorded in New York, London and New Zealand and mastered at Universal Mastering Studios New York by the legendary Vlado Meller (Kanye West, Public Enemy, Run DMC...).
In May ’08 the single WAITAHA was released to rave reviews and subsequently nominated at the 2008 Silver Scrolls for the APRA Maioha Award for Contemporary Maori Song Writing. Having just returned from a tour throughout New Zealand, Europe and Hong Kong, maitreya is set to release his second single LOTALUV accompanied by a video shot in Mon Kok, Hong Kong… the most densely populated square mile in the world!
