Born in Auckland, made in Apia, Samoa.
Ventry Parker, aka Poetik, is reviving Polynesian hip-hop in the West Auckland community of Avondale.
“It’s diverse, so many different cultures. The store owners, people who work in the pharmacy, even the cops pull up and wave,” Poetik said.
“The hub is right here. I feel like Avondale is a beautiful place.”
The award-winning rapper known for his strong views on racism, Polynesian culture, the struggle with poverty, street violence and mainstream media opened a streetwear store called Big Village last month.
It’s a dream come true for the father of four who spent years and lengthy hours selling his merchandise at the Avondale markets. His store sells clothing, books and CDs with his brand 685 — the area code for calling Samoa.
“The area code is also the code of conduct on how we carry ourselves as Pacific people,” he said.
“This is us — fa’aaloalo (Samoan for respect), love, unity, service all these values that we have in the islands, so this is who we are, so come home.”
Home base
Big Village is also used as the official home base where he records his podcast. He even welcomes other artists to use the shop and is spotted by fans mentoring young rappers while working.
“I just feel like every day I wake up I just want to go to work and keep going. I don’t feel like I’ve done enough,” he shared.
"Today, I’m going to clean the shop, clean the floors, we’re going to get ready for Christmas and ride out the rest of the year."
Poetik was two when his mother died. He was born into music with his musician father, Faasavalu Dave Parker, but admits he couldn’t hold a tune so started rapping in his teenage years using poetry he wrote to attract girls.
"I started rapping when I found out I couldn't sing. I didn't have the voice like the elders did, so I had to do something," he said.
Influenced by US West Coast rappers in the 90s like Tupac, the world got its first taste of Poetik on his three independently released albums The Ambassador, For the Ville and Poetikly Done.
In 2017, his album Hamofied debuted at number one on the iTunes New Zealand hip-hop chart, earning him nominations and winning awards such as the 2018 Philip Fuemana Most Promising Pacific Artist Award. In 2020, he won Best Pacific Male Artist.
The rapper and father of four uses his personal experiences in life as a testament to his strength and motivation to stay true to himself, his fans and his music.
"Family to me is a gift from God. I feel like without our elders like nana and our mums and our fathers, who we all took lessons of life from, I wouldn’t be here today," he said.
"The environment we live in, unfortunately, you can get caught up in the bad things, that it’s very difficult to stay in the safe lane."
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