Troy Kingi

The project marks the first EP between two of Aotearoa’s musical forces, multi-award-winning, multi-genre Māori artist Troy Kingi (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) and Māori hip-hop trio MOKOMOKAI (MANU, DUSTY & GHOS) who claimed the Best Hip Hop Artist Award at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards.

Marine Blue Social Club takes its name from two distinct but connected musical reference points. “Marine Blue” nods to a Biggie Smalls freestyle and “Social Club” pays homage to Cuba’s Buena Vista Social Club and the spirit of communal creativity.

As long-term friends, the collaboration has been building for more than five years. DUSTY explains.

Supporting the show is world-class DJ and producer DJ Spell, known globally for his boundary pushing turntablism, hip-hop and beat making. DJ Spell has represented Aotearoa on the world stage, winning the 2017 DMC World Championships, 2011 Red Bull Thre3Style NZ title and 2013 IDA Australasian Championships. With a career spanning over two decades, he has taken to some of Aotearoa’s biggest festival stages and shared them with some of Hip-Hop’s most influential names such as MF DOOM, Mos Def, KRS-One and Prophets Of Rage.