<p><strong><em>“</em></strong>You’re either growing or you’re shrinking.&nbsp;We’re like plants, none of us stays the same. We’re living things. We’re either going this way to higher things or back this way, to death.<strong><em>” </em></strong><em>— Tipene Harmer</em></p><br><p>Tipene Harmer is a rapper, a kaiako (teacher) of mātauranga Māori, and an all-around awesome dude.</p><br><p><strong><em>Patreon whānau exclusive: my favourite tāonta from this kōrero was around decision making. I wrote about how I've been working on mine </em></strong><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/55738720" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong><em>here</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p><br><p>We spend the first chunk of the interview talking/geeking-out about Aotearoa hip-hop and the connection to te ao Māori and American culture, then we move onto our standard (delicious) fare of kai, how he got to the position of living a life he loves, what could have stopped him, his new album Heritage Trail, and a whole lot more.</p><br><p>As well as the above, here are a few of the taonga (treasures) Tipene shares:</p><p><br></p><ul><li>The best advice he got from Scribe.</li><li>The purpose and motivation behind his latest album.&nbsp;</li><li>The motivation behind his first mixtape and forays into rap.</li><li>Getting out of our own way.</li><li>The power of decision making and the influences on those decisions.&nbsp;</li><li>The hard way, and the hard way and how&nbsp;</li><li>The strength we get from connection.</li><li>The power of music and kotahitanga (bringing together).&nbsp;</li><li>What he’s learned from the rangatahi he works with as a teacher.</li><li>His song-writing process and how he used his song Turangawaewae to teach tīkanga marae to his students.</li><li>How rap encouraged him to read.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Hit <em>subscribe</em> in your podcast app if you want to hear more.</p><p><strong>Enjoyed the episode? Help us record more</strong>: If you want to help us share these conversations for positive change, please help by donating here: <a href="http://www.patreon.com/paperbackguerrillas" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.patreon.com/paperbackguerrillas</a></p><br><p><strong>Resources and mentions</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam_Native#:~:text=Dam%20Native%20focuses%20on%20M%C4%81ori%20issues%20and%20other,Aotearoa...%20Nobody%20Does%20It%20Better%22%20released%20in%202010." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dam Native</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Takitimu-J-H-Mitchell/dp/1877514721" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Takitimu book</a></p><br><p><strong>Question:</strong> what was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Comment below and let us know!</p><p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/paperbackguerrillas" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Support the show</a> (https://www.patreon.com/paperbackguerrillas)</p><p>Support this show <a target="_blank" rel="payment" href="http://supporter.acast.com/paperback-guerrillas">http://supporter.acast.com/paperback-guerrillas</a>.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>