Scribe

Scribe
Scribe and P-Money at the 2007 Big Day Out
Background information
Birth name	Malo Luafutu
Origin	Christchurch, New Zealand
Genres	Rap, Hip hop
Years active	2000-present
Labels	Dirty
Associated acts	Savage (rapper), P Money
Website	www.scribescribe.com

Scribe (born 29/05/1979) is the stage name of New Zealand rapper Malo Luafutu. His debut album, The Crusader, was released in 2003 in New Zealand and has gone five times platinum there, achieving two number one singles.

History

Malo Luafutu was born of Samoan descent in Christchurch. He grew up in Phillipstown, Christchurch as a fan of rap music with NWA as his first influence. He spent his youth developing his rapping skills with local rap group Beats n' Peaces and Polynesian theatre company Pacific Underground.

He became more widely known throughout New Zealand with his guest appearance on P-Money's Big Things album. However he was still fairly unknown until the release of the double sided single "Stand Up"/"Not Many" in August 2003.

New Zealand Hip Hop Stands Up

With the initial focus on the song "Stand Up", director Chris Graham gave the video for the single the energy of a rock video with invited music guests, DJs and even the general public invited to be in the video. The song debuted at #6 on the New Zealand top 40 singles and soon rose to number 1. Amazingly the single spent 12 (non-consecutive) weeks at number one. Part of its staying power can be attributed to the fact that when the public became sick of airplay of "Stand Up" the other side of the single "Not Many" could be played, thereby enabling the song to remain high on the New Zealand charts.

Scribe's debut album The Crusader was released in New Zealand in October 2003 by Dirty Records with distribution through Festival Mushroom Records. The album went gold within hours and platinum within days. It has so far sold 85,000 copies in New Zealand, which is five times platinum status in that country.

Scribe followed the success of the album with the limited edition release of "Not Many - The Remix!" featuring guest vocals from MCs Savage and Con Psy which peaked at #2 and then released a new single "Dreaming" in January 2004, which also reached #1.

Scribe took a break from new singles and toured the country on the Hook It Up tour before he returned in late 2004 with a new single off P-Money's Magic City album called "Stop the Music", again reaching #1.

Rhyme Book

Scribe's second studio album titled Rhyme Book was a released in Australia on 29 September 2007 and in New Zealand on 1 October 2007. Rhyme Book did not sell as well as its predecessor. It featured collaborations with New York hip hop artist Talib Kweli (of Reflection Eternal and Black Star fame) on the track "Be Alright". The first single off the album in New Zealand, "My Shit", had its video premiere on Sunday, August 12 on local music channel C4. "F.R.E.S.H." was the second single released in New Zealand. The first single in Australia however was "F.R.E.S.H.", followed by "My Shit". The third single in both countries was "Say It Again", which features Scribe's cousin Tyra Hammond.

Discography

Solo albums

Major album guest appearances

• P-Money - Big Things (2002) (Six Songs)
• Concord Dawn - Uprising (2003) (One Song)
• P-Money - Magic City (2004) (Three Songs)

Singles

End Of Year Charts

• "Stand Up"/"Not Many" (August 2003)
  12 weeks at #1, NZ #1 Song for 2003,
• "Not Many - The Remix!"/"Stand Up" (12/03 NZ, 05/04 Australia)
  #77 Song Australia 2004
• "Dreaming"/"So Nice" (01/04 NZ, 11/04 Australia)
  NZ #14 Song for 2004
• "Stop the Music" (P-Money feat Kirk jackson & Scribe) (11/04 NZ, 04/05 Australia)
  NZ #12 Song for 2004

References

External links

• Scribe at MySpace
• Festival Music Records New Zealand artist page
• Baillie, Russell (18 October 2003). "Scribe: The Crusader". New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3529371. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
• "Close encounter with Scribe". Sunday Star Times. 12 August 2007. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4162188a1860.html. Retrieved 2009-04-09.