Dubious Brothers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dubious Brothers were a hip-hop duo based in Hamilton, New Zealand, formed in 2000. Members were Chris Macro (beatmaker/engineer/producer) and Tyna Keelan (guitars/bass/emcee). While New Zealand/Aotearoa hip-hop at the time (led by Che Fu and King Kapisi) was tending to contain a South Pacific influence, Dubious Brothers played a straighter, more American style. Lyrics commonly referred to crime and violence, but also contained clever word-play and took the stance that the only justified law breaking is the breaking of unjust law. Characters in their songs that didn't respect this were not treated as heroes. In this, Dubious Brothers took lyrical influences from American gansta rap but also took the community-minded inspiration of groups such as Arrested Development.

Their one album, Trade Secrets, was released on Shock Records in 2002 and featured the single The Future - a story set in the year 2012, in a future where hip-hop has been outlawed and mix tapes are smuggled across borders like drugs. A number of New Zealand hip-hop identities featured on Trade Secrets, including DJ Sirvere, Mareko (of Deceptakonz), Marcus (Native Sons) and 4Corners. Critical response was encouraging, with the New Zealand Herald naming the album the 8th best of 2002. Despite the industry and media support, Trade Secrets was not a good seller (even when released with bonus material including a remix disc), and Dubious Brothers soon faded into a rapidly-expanding local hip-hop scene.