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Renowned Grey Lynn, Central Auckland-raised rapper Diggy Dupé has returned with Brown Velvet EP, a new project made in collaboration with producer choicevaughan and arriving just in time for the Aotearoa summer season, out Friday, December 12th via DRM.

Brown Velvet finds Diggy Dupé reuniting with acclaimed Aotearoa producer choicevaughan, following their collaborative history as the minds behind the Silver Scroll and Aotearoa Music Award-winning The Panthers soundtrack in 2021. The 5-track project marks a shift in sound from the rapid-fire raps, Island drums, and hard-hitting 808’s that defined Dupé’s early projects like 2017’s debut album K.O.T.I.C, and 2020’s That’s Me, That’s Team. Brown Velvet transports listeners to the carefree scenes and mellow sounds of a Central Auckland summer, with Diggy’s smooth bars set against choicevaughan’s nostalgic tapestry of disco, funk, soul, and R&B rhythms.

Brown Velvet’s lead single, ‘Request Line’, set the mood for the timeless soundscapes of the project upon its release in December 2024, with Dupé embracing melodic-rap cadences blended with sleek basslines and disco-funk atmospheres from choicevaughan, with co-production and co-writing from Grammy Award-winning producer Astro. The project’s latest single, ‘Big Dawgs Eat’, is a soulful neo-funk anthem speaking to summertime freedom and family values, arriving with an accompanying music video directed by Doughboy Creative and featuring Māori/Samoan singer-songwriter Jordyn with a Why. “All day, seven days a week, gotta mess around, let the big dogs eat,” Dupé barks over choicevaughan’s grooving instrumental. “Let ‘em free, let him find his peace, gotta let him be, let the big dogs eat, unchain, let him off the leash, gotta mess around, let the big dogs eat.”

On ‘Anything’, Dupé joins forces with acclaimed Māori musician and close collaborator Troy Kingi, who worked alongside Dupé and choicevaughan under the alias P. Smith for The Panthers soundtrack and recently recruited Dupé as a collaborator on his latest album Night Lords. A 90’s inspired g-funk love song, ‘Anything’ fuses woozy basslines with soulful vocals from Troy Kingi declaring devotion to his partner, while Dupé’s laidback bars paint a lively portrait of his ladies summertime shenanigans out on the town. Dupé also recruits Aotearoa R&B artist Sam V’s silky smooth melodies for the infectious hook on ‘Sicily’, a soaring hip-hop and funk fusion with shades of 80’s R&B.

“We were influenced by funk records. We started off with our usual process, starting real rap-heavy, but we thought this time we’d shift our approach. I had to scrap half of what I wrote, change my entire view of how to write songs, and start approaching it in a pop sense,” Diggy reveals of the project’s creative process. “We figured out less is more so I could let the beat breathe. We went heavy on being more lighthearted.”

“The whole writing process was very collaborative,” choicevaughan adds. “We approached it more like a traditional funk/soul/rnb/pop project rather than “producer makes the beats, rapper writes the raps”, and decisions were made due to what’s best for the song as a whole. We just wanted to make a project people could boogie to over the summer. My summer playlist is almost always funk heavy.”

Almost a decade on from his 2017 debut project K.O.T.I.C, Brown Velvet EP is an exciting evolution for one of Aotearoa’s most respected rappers, proving Dupé’s ability to sonically shapeshift while always keeping his Central Auckland roots, Niuean culture, and community values at the core of his artistry. As smooth as Brown Velvet, Diggy Dupé and choicevaughan’s latest Summer masterpiece is available Friday, December 12th on all digital streaming services.

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