The HP Boyz are the hottest property in the music scene in Australia at the moment and their domination looks set to continue with a packed schedule for the remainder of 2021. With not only their own tour of capital cities Brisbane, Sydney, Darwin and Melbourne in August/September, they are also one of the major draw cards for two Lunar Electric Festivals in September and the very first Promiseland Festival on the Gold Coast over the October long weekend. We caught up with the ONIT, YJ and MWAYS to ask them some questions about the music, their success, Promiseland and their lifelong friendship.

Interview with HP Boyz for Music Festivals Australia

Hp Boyz are a perfect example of an independent group being able to achieve mainstream success. With 1 platinum and 5 gold singles already achieved in a two-year time frame, what do you attribute to your rapid rise and success?

ONIT: Although we still have a long way to go on our journey, our first 2 years have been a massive success, and I think first it’s our passion for the music and our craft, and then, our unique look and sound. We were different to everyone else, and I think that’s what made us stand out.

YJ: Hard work etc. We sacrificed our time to get to where we have in those 2 years, and it paid off and still to this day but we just try and keep the ball rolling.

Your Australian tour has four dates left, Brisbane, Darwin, Sydney and Melbourne. Are you glad to be getting back to performing in front of a real crowds?

MWAYS: We love performing in front of crowds, it’s one thing to know people are listening to our music but it’s another thing for them to come to our shows and really show love. Performing and watching the crowd rap our songs really gives us confidence to keep pushing to do more music and more shows.

ONIT: It’s always an honor to be able to do shows in these big venues, and see people sing our songs. It’s always a humbling experience.

YJ: Hundred percent we are, we appreciate every opportunity that comes to us. To be able to perform in front of our crowds, just being up on the stage gives us energy and hype to perform for everyone.

You have received massive support from major radio stations with your music in the A1 rotation, did this comes as a surprise? Not only the support but the first time you heard one of your songs on popular radio?

MWAYS: At first it was a massive surprise, being heard on the radio and on playlists on Spotify and iTunes, but if anything it just pushes us to do more. We’re always trying to be better and always trying to top what we’ve already done

ONIT: To be honest it still spins me out that they play our music on the radio, let alone how regularly they do. Since we dropped BluePrint, anything we drop is guaranteed to be aired on radio that week which is great for us and our fans. Thanks to everyone plugging us though.

YJ: We’re just happy and grateful to be on those platforms and for the support from everyone who helped us get to where we are. The first time I heard our songs on the radio was crazy to me. I felt over the moon and I couldn’t believe it. I’m just proud of us boys for making it on radio stations and playlists because it pushes us to do more.

With so many of your shows this year happening in Queensland are there any plans for the HP Boyz to relocate from Melbourne?

MWAYS: No not at this stage, I don’t really plan on living anywhere else but Melbourne at the moment, Melbourne is home and always will be.

ONIT: At the moment it all depends on Covid. We won’t be relocating but if anything is to jeopardize us making it to these shows then I’m sure we will definitely look at relocating just for a short time.

YJ: Of course, with everything that’s been happening across Melbourne with Covid. We’d love to do more shows in our own city though.

Were you surprised by the response to your New Zealand Tour announcement, with the 7 shows completely selling out in less than ten minutes? You must have a solid following over in NZ

MWAYS: Hundred percent I was surprised, firstly because at the time I’ve never left Australia before, so to go to another country and sell out shows was crazy. NZ show a lot of love to the boys and I, and yes, we have a solid following in NZ. Having a Samoan background really contributes a lot, so we have a lot of our own people supporting us.

ONIT: Yeah, that one definitely got all of us by surprise, I was shocked. I guess at the time we had just dropped Engineers and then Bad N Bouj, a short time after that, so the hype was pretty real at the time, and then we announced our NZ tour, they all just went nuts. Shoutout to NZ we’ll be back soon.

YJ: Shout out to NZ, mad love up there. We couldn’t believe that happen for our first tour there, they showed mad love and the support was crazy. We didn’t even know we had that much of a fan base coming from NZ but it is something to remember.

You have done some guest appearances on stage with other artists, do you want to do collab work in the future or is this just a when you feel like it a surprise for fans? Is there anyone particularly you would like to perform or collab with?

MWAYS: Of course, I would love to collab with other people, but just at the moment we’re still trying to focus on us, HP Boyz. I think there’s a right time and place to do collabs, so not sure when, but its defiantly a thought that’s been in my mind.

ONIT: At this stage we haven’t released any content for about 8 months. So right now, were just focusing on us, and how were going to make a return and shake this scene up. Once we do that and we get the wheels going again, it’s inevitable a collaboration or two will follow.

HP Boyz headlined the Hip-Hop stage at march’s Lunar Electric and your set to do the same with the guys In September for another two events, is it safe to say you enjoyed your festival experience with the Lunar team?

MWAYS: Yes, we will be performing at 2 Lunar events this year, hundred percent we loved working with them, we had a great time in GC and looking forward to the next one

ONIT: For sure Lunar was a vibe and a half. I guess they just had to have us back, hopefully we can repay their faith in us with another solid performance.

YJ: Yeah, hundred percent we enjoyed the Lunar festival, it was hectic seeing all the party goers having a good time. It was a mad experience in GC but we will change things up for our next set just to bring in that extra hype

That brings us to Promiseland, this is the very first Promiseland Festival, a Reggae/Alternative/Hip-Hop festival that is set to fill a much-needed void. Do you think that is the reason for this event selling its ticket releases so quickly?

MWAYS: It’s just a good mix of artist who are all good at what they do. It’s good to have a mix of genres and I think that’s one of the reasons why it sold so fast.

ONIT: Promiseland killed it with their lineup/rollout. I think Promiseland will be the festival of the year.

YJ: We’re just blessed to be at the first Promiseland Festival . I don’t think there’s any reason, I think everyone just wants to have a good time especially when everyone’s been on lock down, they would wanna go to an event to remember.

Are you exited for Promiseland seeing as it’s a new type of audience and atmosphere than you are used to at a festival event? Are you excited to be able to share your music with people who may not be familiar with HP Boyz?

MWAYS: I’m hundred percent excited to be performing at Promiseland, I think this is a more suitable audience for us, being a Samoan, we enjoy reggae music, and we know that we got a lot of support from the Polynesian community

ONIT: 100% we are excited. Promiseland is the main performance I’m looking forward to this year. I can’t wait for October 2nd.

YJ: I’m excited to see the crowd, I think I know what type of crowd it’ll be but I’m just keen to perform for everyone. Just being on that stage and we just wanna give everyone a good time especially those that haven’t heard our music. It’s always good to have new people who haven’t heard of us. If they don’t like it then they don’t but for those who are interested that’s just helping us grow our fan base but always down to rock with the crowd no matter what.

Promiseland is set to deliver an ‘immersive experience’ what can the punters expect?

MWAYS: It’s a sold out festival for a reason, I’m pretty sure everyone will have a good time!

Promiseland sees a solid collection of talent from Australia and New Zealand Who are you excited to see play from the extensive line-up of locals and neighbours?

MWAYS: Growing up we listened to reggae a lot, it’s just music that brings people together, so I’m excited to see Nesian Mystik and Ardijah perform, I grew up in a house where there was a party every week, and my parents loved listening to those artists, so it’ll be good to see them live.

YJ: I’m just keen to perform with all the people who are on the line-up. For myself I like to listen to any kind of music, so as long as I’m having a good time and good vibes it doesn’t matter who’s performing, I’m still keen to party.

What are the best and worst parts of being on a multi artist bill? Do egos ever get in the way or does it just add to the party?

MWAYS: Nah I think it just adds to the party, everyone there is there to have a good time, so just perform to the fullest, don’t worry about anyone else.

Small intimate club style gigs and big park/stadium events are obviously quite different in the energy and audiences, which is easier to engage great crowd participation? Which do you prefer? Clubs or Stadiums?

MWAYS: I don’t really prefer one over the other, they both have their pros and cons, but I do think it’s easier to engage bigger crowds ‘cause everyone just feeds off each other. The vibes just easy to catch when your performing in front big crowds.

YJ: I prefer both but I would go with stadium just because of the energy and the more people the louder it is. Clubs are no different but imagine a whole room full of people rapping word for word it’ll go off. It doesn’t really matter, just the energy that we like to feed off the crowd.

What your favourite song to perform from your back catalogue?

MWAYS: I think my favorite song to perform is Loyalty, I just think everyone can relate in their own way to the song. When people start rapping our words with passion it just makes it more fun being on the stage.

YJ: Engineers and Loyalty. I don’t really have a favorite yet but I know those songs go off!

Where was your first gig? Was it a success or flop?

MWAYS: Our first gig was through Fortay and Kid Kearve which was at Chelsea Heights here in Melbourne, we only had one song at the time but all our boys came and supported us, even hopped on stage with us too. It was a vibe that night so I wouldn’t say it flopped.

Your bio says you started off as childhood friends that went onto become a brotherhood. How do you define the difference between friends and brothers? When did you notice the shift in attitudes and the relationship between you all?

MWAYS: Well obviously we all grew up together, at different parts of my life to. I guess when we just don’t judge each other for our wrongs, instead we help each other to be better, it doesn’t matter what it might be and because we’ve made so many memories with each other and remember those good times, why not create more good times.

YJ: We grew up together, family ties and some we met along the way but we’re all hundred with each other like straight brothers, we have our ups and down’s but loyalty kept us together. We trust each other, we don't have any room for hate or any negative energy. We just try and keep it positive most of the time.

In your journey as a performer/group/musician have you changed? Is life much different for you from when you started out?

MWAYS: It’s not all that different, maybe financially its different and all the travelling and going places is different too, but for lifestyle, I still see my family and still hang with the boys when I can, but the music keeps me busy, so that’s the main thing.

ONIT: My life has changed immensely and so have I as a person and the people around me. I’ve learnt a lot about myself along the way, and also others. I’m constantly learning, and I feel like I’m still finding myself. So, I think in 10 years time when I look back at our music, you’ll be able to see how we were feeling at the time, and what we were going through as a group, and individuals. That’s the beauty of music and what we do. I can’t wait to look back once I’m finished with music, and explain to my kid’s certain songs or lyrics, what they meant to us/me.

YJ: At the start I was shy but didn't care at the same time. As time went by, being in the game I’ve learnt things on the way, I’ve gained a-lot of knowledge. I just take it as it comes, life's a bit different from before like flying to places and touring but that’s because I wanted to get somewhere

2020 was a year full of uncertainty and change. For some the year came as a blessing, for some a curse. How do you rate your 2020?

MWAYS: 2020 was a crazy year for us, obviously Covid played a massive part in that year and we also released an ep that year, but we still got to travel interstate and travel overseas and perform in NZ at Bay of Dreams, so even though there was a lot of speed bumps in 2020, we still continued to make music and blessed to even perform

ONIT: 2020 was a massive learning curve for me, but despite Covid it was just another year. A year full of highs, lows, successes, failures, and lessons! Just gotta keep stepping.

YJ: It was alright we could have done more that year but due to Covid we missed out on opportunities that would of helped us along the way but we still managed to work around it. I would say it was good because we still dropped songs and we managed to get things done.

Who in your crew or team deserves a shout out but never gets one? And what is they do that keeps your world turning?

MWAYS: Shoutout to my manager HPHOODLUM, he does a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, he’s always on the phone, talking to people that can better us in any way we can, he puts a lot of his time into us, so I’m grateful for him as a manager but not only that, he’s one of the boys, he knows how to be a good brother, when I need someone for advice, he’s always there.

YJ: Our beat makers they make nothing but fire. Their talented beat makers, they help us out a lot, HP Area Beatz and the bro Olmate Daz

What's next for the HP Boyz? What can we expect for the rest of 2021 and beyond?

MWAYS: New music and more bangers!!!

YJ: More songs, More shows and nothing less. We just try focus on what we need to do to keep us relevant and keep our family’s straight. yktv

Thanks for taking time out to talk to MFA/MKA

July 2021

Interview by Michelle Symes

HP BOYZ , HOT PROPERTY