New Zealand singer, songwriter, producer and entertainer “Che-Fu” at the age of 4 stood stage left at Bob Marley’s Western Springs’ 1978 concert.
Che, a founding member of Supergroove, responsible for a new sound, the album Traction released in 1995 produced hits that have become classic kiwi anthems, Supergroove generated a staggering 6 Top 10 hits throughout the 90s with singles’ like, ‘Sitting inside my head’, ‘Can’t get enough’ and ‘You got to know’ The Band down sized in early 1996 after their world tour.
Che’s debut’ solo album as ‘Che-Fu’ ‘2b S.Pacific’ released in 1997. ‘Chains’ the first hip hop # 1 single in New Zealand charts, and retained # 1 position for 5 consecutive weeks. ‘Chains’ reached Platinum sales, and the landmark single that brought New Zealand Hip Hop to commercial attention.
Late 2001, Che-Fu & The Kratez released the follow-up album ‘Navigator’. ‘Navigator’ debuted at #1, stayed there for 3 successive weeks, achieved 4 times Platinum and featured the singles ‘Fade away’, ‘Random’, and APRA Silver Scroll Award winning single ‘Misty frequencies. 2002 NZ Music Awards saw Che-Fu & The Kratez receive 6 Tui Awards joining the 4 awarded him in previous years including the last time The Most Promising Entertainer Of The Year Award would be presented in 1996.
Released in 2006 ‘HI Score’ ‘The Best Of Che-Fu’ featured singles from Che’s three solo albums and four new tracks. ‘Chains Reloaded’ a remix of number one hit single ‘Chains’ which featured P-Money & Savage. The release of ‘Chains Reloaded’ marked the 10 year anniversary of the original number one single ‘Chains’ debuted in 1996.
Che-Fu & The Kratez performed in London at HRH The Queen Of England’s Golden Jubilee. Che dined and performed for The Prince of Whales, Prince William and in the 2009 Honours List Che was presented “The NZ Order Of Merit” for his contribution to music. To date Che has the most top 10 singles in the N.Z charts.
Che-Fu & The Kratez are presently testing new tunes for a new album to be released as soon as possible.
