SMV EXCLUSIVE: The Word From PAKKZWUN

Yesterday my man Pakkzwun of Fulla Eclipse released his long awaited 'KillemWitSteez' vol. 1. An underground MC & workaholic my mans is on the grind! We had a bit of a yarn for those of you who are not familiar with dude!

1. Ma man! i remember meeting you at a HipHop summit i think. You was a youngin' man, like 14. Im glad to see you still at it in 2010. Why don't you tell em where you're from, where you currently live & who you reppin'?

Chur g,that was a long time ago haha!My names Pakkz,Livin in West Auckland,Reppin Full Eklipse ( FULLA! ),135th Battalion,West Ak Borough Kings & West Auckland as a whole.

2. You've made a reputation for yourself in the mix-tape scene. How many have you released to date? & how has the 'mix-tape' helped you?

Ive released 6 solo mixtapes to date,since like 05.Theyve helped me in more ways than i can say,getting me gigs and heaps of other stuff like exposure on the same radio shows i used to listen to when i was young.Its been priceless,but cool cause on mixtapes im just freelancing saying whatevers on my mind.

3. I notice you work with a lot of different MCs so you've obviously made a lot of connections. How important is it to network with other artists?

Its important to network with other artists so you reach areas people wouldnt be normally be able to access your music.Even the actual creativeness of working with other cats makes networking better,coz you gotta step ya shit up featuring and be on your game.

4. In my experience over the years i've travelled alot just to connect with other hiphop heads. I've bumped into you in a couple places lol. How do you find visiting other hiphop scenes in other towns?

Haha word,Visiting other scenes is dope cause you get to see how people react to your music not being familiar with your surroundings.They give more of a real opinion/reaction to my stuff when im outside of ak.appreciate it more

5. Why are you an MC? what sparked it for you?

Originally i was hard into the battle kinda shit,freestyling n stuff.The creativity and spontaneousness of freestyling had me hooked.These days i just enjoy speaking my mind,keeping my rhymes technical and experimenting in studio.Mad fun..plus it helps develop me as an artist.

6. Who are the most influential rappers to you? And who are you diggin' right now in the NZ rap scene?

The most influential cats to me are the underground mixtape rappers in the states trying to do their thing,staying hungry coz i can relate to their grind.Plus cats like Nas,Biggie,Big Pun and all the 90s eastcoast shit..In the NZ rap scene i listen to Young Sid,Tyson Tyler,Derty Sesh,West AK Borough Kings,Poisonous youth and most of the other dudes out there going hard in the studio.NZ has produced heaps of classic music i reckon so i listen to all the old stuff aswell.

7. You're about to release Killemwitsteez vol.1 as your 1st release for 2010. Tell me what that's all about?

KillemWitSteez volume 1 is pretty much a street album with all original production,but i wanted it to be mixed by a DJ cause not many people are actually getting DJs to mix their shit.Its mostly hardcore hiphop but i got abit of motivational music on there too..alongside some stuff about how i feel the game has changed since i first came in.Got a few features on there also..just basically having fun and getting more comfortable with my music.

8. I hear you speak about the general state of hiphop in your new music. You ask the question what happened to the battles. Have you entered any in the past? What did they mean to you?

Yeah bro i entered a few battles, none that im particularly proud of but im glad it went as far as it did.I Freestyled in every battle..there were some haters but they didnt have the nuts to get up there and do it and i did so fuck em haha.Why i mentioned it in the music is cause i miss the fun aspect of back then.People werent as standoffish and they were more willing to support etc.its not actually that bad but i reckon there could be more support for up n coming artists.

9. What are thoughts on the Derty Sesh vs Seka thing? i know sesh is your boy. I Dig both of them myself! Shit got exciting on a 'hiphop' buzz for a day or 2 lol

I reckon its cool aye,on a competitive rapping tip cause we got to see another side of both of em.and they had to step it up..Be cool to see some more of the same kinda thing,not on the beef tip but just competitiveness.but nzs kinda too small to do that shit so i dunno.

10. Aite man lets wrap this up...

Codys or Mevericks?

Codys all day.Shit is gangsta the next day but hey,its jeoice.

Sticky or Outdoor?

Both....after some work gets done haha whaaaatever

Burgers or chicken?

Chicken.the hood frogleg joints for when you need tear something up quickly.Or some nandos!or pak n save lol.

Biggie or Pac?

Big for flow/cadence/mc sorta steez and Pac for deep/heartfelt shit and the wild shit he did just before he died.

Kim Kardash or got a missus?

Kim! Or Halle Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!