Feature: Chong Nee - Getting Around

Like other musicians, John Chong Nee has endured ups and downs throughout his career. He has, without prior calculation, found himself involved with numerous musical movements in New Zealand, which have respectively created their own legacies and provided music of difference.
He is a mild mannered, collected, smooth customer, and like his regular music partner Dei Hamo, has a sharp fashion sense and an extra large stature. He is Chong Nee; vocalist, percussionist, bassist, pianist, drummer, producer and arranger.

With his own debut album 'Just Getting By On Love' being perfected and primed for release in early May, New Zealand will finally get to embrace Chong Nee as a solo artist.

To be distributed independently by Handmade/Rhythmethod, the album will fuse R'n'B, hip hop, and soul. This move to centre stage has not exactly come quickly for the 31 year old beatmaking veteran.

"When I was 18 I started Semi-MCs. There were seven of us, but it boiled down to Sam Feo II and me in the end, and then we became AKA Brown. Phil Fuemana and UPR ran with us and the rest is history," explains Chong Nee.

That Urban Pasifika stint was his first major stepping stone in what would come to be an ever-blossoming career. Working with more mainstream pop names such as Dobbyn and Finn was obviously inspiring and educational for a young musician with melody on the mind.

"Also, knowing people like Mareko, Savage and Dei Hamo, and becoming really good friends with these people, you influence each other and it's a beautiful thing."

Post UPR, Chong Nee went to Dawn Raid Entertainment and for several years worked almost behind the scenes as their in-house producer. During this time, he contributed to releases including compilations 'Southside Story', 'Str8 From Tha Streets', The Deceptikonz' 'Elimination' and Mareko's debut album 'White Sunday'. At this stage Chong Nee was happy setting other artists up for stardom as he decided to play the background for a while.

When you ask any hip hop head about Chong Nee, most will reply with the word... beats. He is, by trade, a producer and has flown the flag for orchestrated, or written beats almost by himself over the last five years. I mean, almost everyone else in Aotearoa samples! One joint in particular, Dei Hamo's We Gon' Ride, hit #1 on the Music Chart and consequently blew the roof off of New Zealand hip hop.

"We Gon' Ride came about by me listening to a lot of hip hop stuff, like The Neptunes, just listening and learning. It was inspired by electronic music as well. But I really wanted to prove something to New Zealand and show them how we should sound. You know? Different is good. Heaps of people sample, and I ain't got nothing against that, it's all gravy, but it was a message of how we should be developing... as musicians."

During an interview with Dei Hamo early last year, I asked him about Chong Nee and how the two decide on which instrumentals to use. He told me that about twice a week Chong Nee would be calling him to listen to new beats, playing them over the phone. To create such an array of material, and process such inspiration would take so much energy, I thought. Remember that he doesn't sample, not even live drums. So what about the tools?

"I have a Korg Triton and an Akai MPC 2000XL. I like the sequencing on the Akai, I always use it for my kicks and snares. When I'm at home I use my iMac G5 and Genelecs and that's it. So basically I build the basis of the track on my keyboard and MPC and then develop from there."