After 14 years at the helm of Triple J’s Hip Hop Show, Hau Latukefu is hanging up the headphones. Since he joined the station back in 2008, the radio host has helped to usher in a new era of Australian hip-hop, giving early airplay to acts like The Kid Laroi and mentoring homegrown drill sensations OneFour.
But his own musical journey began as one half of the hip-hop duo Koolism, who were leaders of the local scene in the early 2000s. Now, Latukefu is reflecting on his long career in a new memoir, King: Life, Death and Hip Hop. The book charts Latukefu’s childhood growing up in the only Tongan family on their Queanbeyan block, through to his years as a recording artist and his role mentoring OneFour members as they moved in and out of prison.
Many years back, when he was regularly touring as part of Koolism, Latukefu and his bandmate had a bunch of music gear stolen from their car. Here, he tells us about why he’s still mourning that missing bag of records and beats, and the stories behind other important personal belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
A pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1 Zen Greys. Yeah, I know it sounds kind of superficial reaching for a pair of kicks before grabbing the Aria award or a bunch of rare records, but hear me out. These are the first shoes Kanye put out with Nike. I was gifted them when they dropped in 2009 and because I wasn’t that excited by the design, I never wore them.
Low and behold, Ye became Ye and for years everything he touched turned to gold. These are literally fresh out of the box, and I’ve seen them go for as much as 10k online. That kind of money could help get us back on our feet after our crib flamed up like a chef on the grill at teppanyaki! Although with Ye’s current behaviour, the price could very well plummet pretty soon.
My most useful object
My diary-slash-journal. As a creative, generally speaking, we tend to go with the flow like a leaf along the gutter after a sudden downpour. Which is cool, but our organisational skills aren’t the greatest.
So one year I bought a diary that also was a journal. It not only allowed me to plan out my days, weeks and months properly – it also allowed me to jot down thoughts and ideas. And it had pages where you could reflect on the days that had passed, giving me a sense of accomplishment and achievement.
The item I most regret losing
Musical gear. Many years ago when touring with Koolism, we had our gear stolen out of my then-girlfriend-now-wife Shani’s car. We performed in Katoomba one night, then decided to drive back home after the gig instead of staying up in the Blue Mountains.
So we travelled down the M4, hit Chippendale in the early hours of the morning, and parked in Shani’s underground “secure” car park. We were so tired, we decided the gear would be fine til the morning. Yeah, nah.
The morning came and Shani got up to head into work. She went downstairs to the car park while I slowly got myself up out of bed. Then I got a call. It was Shani on the other side, crying and noticeably shaken. Someone had smashed her side window and stole the gear that was inside. Amongst the stolen gear were some super rare records that Daniel, my partner in Koolism, had purchased in Europe, and a bag filled with discs that had beats on it that we used for our shows, and some beats that were going to be on our next album. Nothing that would be of any value to [the thieves], but meant a whole bunch to us.
Needless to say, I was spewing. It’s been over 10 years since that day and I’m still kicking myself.
