They haven’t been together in the same room for years, but the four members of the South Auckland rap crew still found a way to record a new album.

It’s been a while since anyone saw all four members of Deceptikonz together. “[It’s been] seven, eight years,” admits Savage, one of the seminal Aotearoa hip-hop crew’s four rappers. “It’s always three, or two [of us], but never all four,” agrees Mareko.

These days, Mareko (Mark Sagapolutele) has five kids and runs the low’n’slow Brisbane catering company Southside BBQ, specialising in “bad ass” brisket. Devolo (David Puniani) has eight children and owns a Papakura screenprinting company. Alphrisk (Daniel Maoate), or Frisko, has four sons, is born again and sings gospel songs for his Brisbane church.

Then there’s Savage (Demetrius Savelio). Staring back from behind dark sunglasses, an oversized shirt and his trademark bucket hat, he’s still 100% Savage. From his home in South Auckland, the larger-than-life rapper is still making music, still taking care of business, looking after his three kids and occasionally soundtracking movie trailers that screen at the Super Bowl.

Three out of the four members of Deceptikonz – the veteran crew who, at the beginning of the 2000s, helped usher in a new era for local hip-hop – are sitting in front of me, relaxing on faded orange sofa seats in The Civic’s foyer to escape the constant threat of Auckland rain outside.

Getting 75% of the band in the same room isn’t a bad effort (Alphrisk couldn’t make the promo trip due to commitments in Brisbane). “We ventured off into doing our own things, but at the same time, we still keep really, really close,” says Savage. Their kids – all 20 of them – are close too. “They only know each other as first cousins,” he says.

A quick re-introduction, then, might be in order: Deceptikonz released three albums that helped establish the South Auckland record label Dawn Raid, enjoyed radio and chart success, toured Australasia and performed to huge crowds at the Big Day Out. The quartet waved goodbye in 2010 with their final Dawn Raid album, Evolution: Past, Present, Beyond, and one last show at The Studio.

But that farewell, the lack of contact and the closed borders that kept the group split across Australasia during Covid lockdowns hasn’t stopped Deceptikonz from plotting a comeback. Released today, In Perpetuity is the South Auckland four-piece’s fourth album, a wiser, more mature record that has its feet planted firmly in the present – with a fair few wistful glances over their shoulders to examine their past.

Bit while it’s a Deceptikonz album in name, its nature is different. “We didn’t want to do that, ‘We back motherfuckers!’ thing,” says Savage, who orchestrated a who’s who of the local hip-hop scene to contribute to the record. “We don’t want to force our our style of music onto new music … The biggest part of this album is to help the younger generation navigate through the music, industry and business – especially the business.”

Mareko, whose baritone voice makes it sound like he can knock over small buildings, agrees. “Hip-hop’s a young game. It’s the only genre of music … where the young ‘uns shit on the old heads. If we try to be something we’re not, people will see through that. It’s about us being authentic to ourselves.” As he talks, Devolo nods, his elbows on his knees, his baseball cap bouncing up and down. Finally, he interrupts to say: “We created some magic here.”

Why wave the wand now? Several reasons. One was their appearance in the Oscar Kightley-directed documentary Dawn Raid, which followed the highs and lows of the South Auckland hip-hop label. Deceptikonz released their first three albums under their guidance, and, as Kightley’s film showed, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. “We actually started the conversation during the Dawn Raid documentary,” says Mareko, who admits their legacy was on their minds. “We planted the seed of getting it together to do this album.”

Another reason is that, until recently, their children remained oblivious to their hip-hop achievements. The film helped change that, but they wanted to take it further. “Our kids don’t know too much about our time or the impact that we made in New Zealand all those years ago,” says Savage. “They only see what they see on YouTube. And so when the documentary came out and highlighted a lot of what we did, they were blown away.”

Plus, the timing’s right. Elimination, Deceptikonz’ 2002 debut that broke down doors with tracks like ‘Fallen Angels’ and ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ and paved the way for Scribe, David Dallas, P-Money and a wave of local DJs and MCs to take over the charts, was released exactly 20 years ago. “We just thought it would be real fitting if we released something to celebrate that milestone,” says Mareko.

It wasn’t going to happen without all four of them committing to the project. One member needed more convincing than the others. With his newfound Christian beliefs, Alphrisk had second thoughts. “To him, this is like worldly music,” says Mareko. To ease his nerves, they told him he could just work on the tracks he felt comfortable with. “Right up to the end … he had a spiritual battle, a push and pull,” says Savage.

Covid threw a spanner in the works. To get over their Australasian separation, they swapped tracks online, writing separate verses, then booking studio time when they could. Finally, they arrived en masse for a recording session at Auckland’s Roundhead Studios. The first track they worked on, ‘One Time’, features several members’ kids singing a gorgeous chorus, and came out so well they were inspired to keep going. They were stunned to see how many of their requested guests showed up, including SWIDT, Dei Hamo and David Dallas. ‘Trouble in Paradise’ marks the first appearance of Che Fu and his father Tigilau Ness on a track together.

That’s not the only reunion. Red Eye Society, the mythical Onehunga rap group who only released two albums but had a monumental impact on the scene around them, also reunited for the cause. The group’s two MCs haven’t touched a microphone since 2011’s troubled record Absolute Epoch, but, somehow, members J One and Tek Swift were persuaded to reunite for the song ‘Verbal Abuse 2.0’. “They were the toughest to get,” admits Mareko. “When we played the demo to [DJ] Sir-Vere and P-Money, they were like, ‘Whoa, how the hell did you find Bigfoot? They were blown away.'”

Tour plans are in the works for next year, but for now, there’s some catching up to do. After our interview, Savage, Mareko and Alphrisk are jumping in a car together and traveling to Hamilton to catch up with a sick friend. Following that, a visit to the liquor store might be in order, admits Devolo. They’re older, and wiser, now, and now have an album that reflects that. But some habits die hard, and no matter how long they go without seeing each other, their friendship remains strong. “This,” says Mareko, lifting himself out of his orange chair, “is a reflection of where we are in life now.”

In Perpetuity is out today.