DLT

aka Darryl Thomson


DLT was a key figure throughout the first decade of Aotearoa hip hop. His turntable scratching skills can be heard on New Zealand's first rap single, ‘E Tu’, and he produced ‘Chains’, which hit No.1 in 1996 and paved the way for Che Fu's solo career. Not bad for a guy who grew up in suburban Hawke’s Bay.

Darryl Leigh Thomson first came across hip hop after moving to Wellington from Maraenui, a suburb of Napier, in the early 1980s. “I spent the seventies listening to T. Rex, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Moody Blues and Pink Floyd. It got as black as the Doobie Brothers, until Michael Jackson! I wasn't really into music until I heard Off The Wall, then I didn't stop dancing. I got to Welli and walked into Planet Rock. My real geeky, high-pitched, grab your nuts music tastes changed and I got into top rocking, down rocking.”

The advert for the first double 10-inch Deepgrooves EP
DLT, 2000
DLT, 1990
DLT, 1999
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
DLT, 2003
The 1993 A Wander Through The Transition Zone cassette only release featured Nemesis Dub Systems, Sound Foundation, Tinnitus and DLT
The first episode of Wrekognize (1997)
DLT feat Ryad - Liquid Skies (2000)
DLT, circa 2000
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
DLT with Che Fu in a publicity image for Chains, 1996
Photo credit: Alexander Turnbull Library
DLT featuring Che Fu - Chains (1996)
DLT and Sir Vere on Wrekognize (1997)
A 2000 publicity shot for the Altruism album
Upper Hutt Posse's groundbreaking E Tū, 1988
Upper Hutt Posse - E Tu (1988)
Matty J Ruys, Johnni Sagala, Darryl 'DLT' Thomson and Danny 'Brother D' Leaosavai'i, at the 1999 APRA Silver Scrolls
Anger over TPPA, a contemporary artwork from DLT, 2016
Upper Hutt Posse - Stormy Weather (1991)
Wrekognize (1997) the Wrek Rap Competition Entries and Dam Native Tour Highlights
Joint Force - Static Part 2 (1995)
DLT interview, Give It A Whirl, 2003 (NZ On Screen, 2022)
Joint Force with Danny D, Roger Perry, Mark 'Rhythm Slave' Williams (back), Otis 'MC OJ' Frizzell (front), Fred 'Jazz Man' Harrison, and Darryl 'DLT' Thomson
Photo credit: Murray Cammick Collection
DLT with Time Sulusi at Box nightclub, Auckland, 1990. The mural was painted by DLT for Time's birthday.
Photo credit: Photo by Simon Grigg
Mark 'Rhythm Slave' Williams, Darryl 'DLT' Thomson and Otis 'MC OJ' Frizzell, 1994
Photo credit: Photo by Greg Rewai
DLT feat Mighty Asterix - One love
A signed poster for DLT's Altruism album, 2001
Photo credit: Alexander Turnbull Library
Joint Force - Burntime (1995)
 DLT's art, 2016
DLT meets the Dutchman (aka Joost Langeveld) - Scratches Revenge (Deep in the Pacific of Bass, Deepgrooves, 1992)
DLT feat Sage and Gravity - I'm Your MC (2000)
Joint Force interview on TV3's Frenzy (1995)
DLT and Sir Vere on Wrekognize, with DJ Raw (1997)
Otis Frizzell, Darryl 'DLT' Thomson,  Che Fu, Mark "Rhythm Slave" Williams, with Phil 'Sir Vere' Bell in the front, at the 1996 APRA Silver Scrolls
The landmark DLT album, The True School (1996)
Upper Hutt Posse, 1990 - Acid Dread, D-Word, DLT, Wiya
Upper Hutt Posse, Mount Street, Auckland, June 1990: Teremoana Rapley, Matt 'MC Wiya' Hapeta, Steve 'Acid Dread' Rameka, Darryl 'DLT' Thomson and Dean 'D Word' Hapeta
Photo credit: Photo by Darryl Ward
DLT and Sir Vere on Wrekognize (1997)
Teremoana and DLT at Squid nightclub, Auckland 1996
Photo credit: Photo by Greg Riwai
DLT's art, 2016
Joint Force - Otis Frizzell, Mark 'Slave' Williams and Darryl 'DLT' Thomson
Photo credit: Photo by Greg Riwai
DLT, 2016
DLT, Upper Hutt Posse, 1990
DLT with Lisa Van Der Aarde, Frenzy, TV3 1994
Joint Force - Static Part 1 (1995)
A 2000 publicity shot for the Altruism album
Altruism (2000)
DLT at Box nightclub, Auckland, 1990
Photo credit: Photo by Simon Grigg
DLT, 2000
The Stylee Crew (later known as 37 Degrees) - Clockwise from top left: DLT, Roger Perry, Stinky Jim, Dubhead, Slowdeck
Photo credit: Photo by Darryl Ward. Dubhead collection
Joint Force - Nightmare Man (live at the Gluepot 1995)
A Lost Tribe special with DLT and Sir Vere on Wrekognize (1997)
Labels:

BMG


Southside Records

Trivia:

Chains took the No.22 position on the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs Of All Time list announced in 2001.

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