AP was interested in writing rhymes, but mostly kept them to himself before he found encouragement through the drop-in music-making sessions run by Te Karanga Creative Community at the Wesley Community Centre. AP suggested Church should come along too.

Church recalls: “Will [Mark-Brown] runs the programme and he was really pivotal for facilitating everything. We also met Melodownz there, he was an early supporter. Rizván and Raiza Biza came through too, so there were people who were already on the scene and that put us on their radar … AP was already doing things low-key, so we would do remixes of each other’s songs. Eventually we started working on a mixtape, though with no intention of forming a group, we were still solo artists.”

Rizván liked Church’s remix of AP’s track ‘Introverted’ and suggested they perform together

When Church approached Rizván about supporting him, Rizván said he’d liked Church’s remix of AP’s track ‘Introverted’ and so suggested they perform together. The pair tested the waters with their first EP, Thorough Bread (2018), which included production by Shallows (whom they had met at the centre), Baccyard, (who had reached out by commenting “keen to work” under the ‘Introverted’ track), and another friend, Thom Williams. Their Wesley mentors also contributed, with Melodownz providing a verse for ‘Call It Clout’ and Rizván allowing them to remix one of his tracks as ‘Bill$ Pt.2.’

Church & AP were boosted by Nah Zone, which was a collective of creatives brought together by AP’s sister, Jonique Purcell. Nah Zone took inspiration from Kanye West’s blog (KanyeUniverseCity) and initially set-up a Tumblr where people could share their work – whether photography, art, or music (via Nah Zone playlists). Church appreciated Nah Zone’s coverage online and the chance to perform at their events.

“It gave a sense of gravitas to what we were doing, even if it was on a small scale and, for me, I felt like I was competing to get the most attention from that group of people. That’s part of why we ended up having the success that we had, because we were driven to be respected by our peers at the time.”

Church also scored a slot on 64-bars, a video series curated by David Dallas in which rappers showcased their rhyming over a minimal beat (AP would appear the following year). Fortunately, Church & AP were ready to build on the growing hype, using an instrumental from Baccyard with a warped melody over a trap-influenced beat. Church had been listening to hip hop boy band Brockhampton (who they would later interview for Vice magazine), so he suggested they take a similar approach of running together successive mini eight-bar hooks.

‘Ready Or Not’ began with two catchy sections in a row – the falsetto line “If I get the call I tell em say no more …” followed by the lower rapped part “We stay ready, we stand ready …” Then later in the song two more killer hooks arrived: “No holes in my testimony …” and “Ten, nine, eight, seven six …”

‘Ready Or NoT’s extreme catchiness saw it placed on Spotify’s top rap playlist, and Mai FM

The track’s extreme catchiness saw it placed on Spotify’s top rap playlist (A1) and it was picked up by commercial radio in New Zealand (primarily Mai FM). In July, Church & AP flew to the UK to appear on BBC Radio 1Xtra to be interviewed by DJ Jamz Supernova who had already been airing their track. They also did showcase performances in the UK, Netherlands, and US. It was an unbelievable rise, especially since the pair were still teenagers.

Church credits their manager Manu Taylor as aiding in their meteoric rise. “He was the driving force behind the success of ‘Ready Or Not’. We met Manu in late 2018 at ‘You’re The Future Of Music’, a conference he organised. From there we built a marketing plan to push the song to radio. Since then he’s been our manager.”

Some artists might’ve been tempted to try to replicate the catchy aspects of ‘Ready or Not’ on their next single, but Church didn’t see this as an option. “We try to treat it like a craft and our aim is just to get better at that craft. We’re not motivated by anything else other than just the love of creating.”

Their follow-up single ‘Loud As Hell’ was a harder-edged track that Church had written. It had taken him a while to find the right backing, before Shallows provided an instrumental with a booming synth bass and a busy hi-hat pattern. Church & AP announced a communities tour which saw them doing all-ages shows across the the North Island, including smaller towns such as Dargaville and Whakatāne, ending with a sold out show at The Tuning Fork, Auckland.

By this stage, Church & AP had created their own collective, using the imagery of zips and the name “YKK” (from zip manufacturer Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha).

Church explains: “The ‘Ready Or Not’ single cover has a zip on it, so we’ve always used that iconography. It’s like a little easter egg. Zips are so ubiquitous, but they’re understated. They’re a key part of fashion and they’ve got utility – if the zip on your pants is broken, then they’re useless. I wanted that to be a metaphor for the role that we play in the music scene – we’re always present and our music is essential.”

The young producer Dera Meelan became a key member of YKK, after first introducing himself to AP and Church at a Nah Zone event in 2018. His parents were Kurdish refugees who moved first to Manurewa and then Clendon, where Meelan fell in love with the hip hop music that his school friends were obsessed with.

Dera Meelan worked with Church & AP on ‘Bank’ which became their next million-streamer

Dera worked with Church & AP on ‘Bank’ which had a sung hook with the vocals warped by autotune and it soon became their next million-streamer. They then drew together their existing tracks on the double-EP, Cathedral/All Purpose (2019). Diggy Dupé guested on ‘Down In The Mud’ and the pair returned the favour by appearing on two of his biggest tracks – both of them featured on ‘Trust Remix’ and AP provided a verse for ‘That’s Team’.

Only two months later, Church & AP began releasing singles for their official debut album Teeth (2019), intended as a more focused collection.

Church explains: “What I like about albums is that they’re just singular thoughts, whereas Cathedral/All Purpose and Thoroughbred were loose collections of songs. That can be a beautiful thing in itself, but Teeth felt like it had a central sound to it. We were using one producer, Dera, and we were working at Red Bull Studios, so it felt more official.”

‘Dandelion’ was the opening track on Teeth, but the first voice you heard was deadforest – a rapper who lived near Dera and who soon became a central part of the YKK crew. The single dropped before the album and immediately caught listeners’ attention with its off-beat rhythm, which gave the rappers an interesting set of rhythms to play off. They backed up the single release with their first South Island tour and also announced slots at the summer’s biggest events - Six60’s show at Western Springs, Northern Bass festival, and Rhythm and Vines.

The next pre-album single was ‘Roulette’ which Dera had written after listening to house music in the car when driving across town to pick up AP and Church for a recording session. It took some convincing Church & AP to write to it and they eventually filled up the whole track with potential hook lines.

Around this time Church was also writing with JessB, which led to million-streamer ‘Bump Bump’. He also presented her with the idea for ‘Hello Hello,’ but when she turned it down, he and AP took it for themselves. The closing track was ‘Chrysalis’ which reflected on how they got started and namechecked the people who’d supported them along the way.

Church & AP varied their sound by bringing new collaborators. They worked with upcoming producer Rory Noble to create ‘Aston Martin’, which sounded like it was straight out of the early 00s, with a Latin rhythm and a poppy chorus. Church had originally connected with young singer, Neko (Nganeko Newman), over Instagram and she ended up providing the chorus for both ‘Hello Hello’ and their next single ‘War Outside’.

Covid lockdowns hampered tour plans, but the pair could continue their hectic work rate

The Covid-19 lockdowns were underway by this stage and while this hampered touring plans, it gave the pair time to continue their hectic work rate. By September 2020, they were already releasing singles in the lead-up to their second album-length collection. However, this time they dropped the release in two halves with At Thy Feet (Side A) in 2020 and At Thy Feet (Side B) in 2021. The project’s title track announced their intentions to take things to another level, with a music video shot on 16mm film, which looked more like a short film.

Church & AP’s incredible work rate was rewarded with a Tūī for best hip hop act at the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards. They also won three awards at the Pacific Music Awards – Church has Samoan heritage and AP’s parents are Samoan and Tongan. The following year, AP highlighted his Polynesian roots by collaborating on the track ‘Heka Horsy’ with Kamahumble, which included phrases in Samoan and Tongan.

Even while in the midst of the At Thy Feet campaign, Church & AP continued to release one-off singles directed to a wider audience. A prime example was ‘Happy Song (feat deadforest)’ which became their most popular track during this time. Church felt that releasing stand-alone singles between albums suited the nonlinear nature of how listeners discovered their music.

“The people that just want the singles from us are only ever going to hear the singles, so we have to try to service those audiences at the same time. Also, projects like At Thy Feet are a lot to take on mentally, so sometimes you just want to go into the studio and just make something that’s an escape. For me, those two types of work just happen simultaneously. Sometimes I need to make a heavily crafted song and other times I need to make something more lightweight. Then we’ll decide later – sometimes years later – that it’s time to drop a particular track.”

Then there was a trademark Church & AP surprise. Their next single ‘Church On A Sunday’ dipped even further into 00s nostalgia by taking the chorus from the Adeaze song ‘Memory Lane’ and speeding it up to create a hook. Arriving in April 2022, the song was a perfect end-of-summer jam.

Their releases finally began to slow down, but not because they were taking a well-deserved rest – the pair were busier than ever. For a start, in September 2022 they undertook their first Australian tour. Then the following year, each of them released a solo work: Church released the album Spring 21 (2023) in June and AP released the EP Castle In Da Sand (2023) in October (both had eight tracks). Church felt it was very healthy for their creative process to explore their own solo work.

In 2023 Church felt it was healthy for their creative process to explore their own solo work

“I’m like a prolific creator so I’m always in the studio making stuff. I’m never going to force anyone to be on the same wavelength as me, so there will always be ideas that won’t work as Church & AP. For me, I wanted to explore more avenues. I love pop music and I love R&B. I love trying different approaches to the art of songwriting in general, so the projects that came around that time were just me trying to understand my voice and get better.”

The Church & AP releases slowly picked up again over the following year in the build-up to their next album, Postal (2024). This was another YKK joint, with Dera producing all the tracks and deadforest featuring on five of the 10.

Church believes it was a natural progression. “It is interesting to look back and see that deadforest is on a lot of our most popular songs. ‘Fire Sale’ is our second most streamed song and that’s actually a remix of a song he did with Dera. He’s on ‘Happy Song’ too. It’s always unintentional – we’re just in the studio at the same time, so he’s on hand to try a verse and if it’s good then we keep it. We’re not really strict about what makes a Church & AP song. At the end of the day, good music is good music.”

The fact that they worked with one producer didn’t stop the tracks from being eclectic – running all the way from the guitar-and-sung-vocals based ‘Dreams’ through to the dark, minimal-beat sound of ‘Mathematics’.

Church found Dera was surprisingly adaptable to the different directions they might want to try. “Dera is a great collaborator, in the sense that he can really synthesise what you’re trying to do. He’s so proficient with Logic and the actual music-making side of things. He’s been our in-house producer and engineer since 2019, so working together becomes second nature at a certain point … I think what people don’t always understand about us is that we just love music, so we’re not doing it to follow a certain type of wave, that’s not why we do music. We just like exploring and we have the liberty to do that.”

The only outside feature artist on the album was US-rapper Devon Harris (on ‘W.H.Y.’) and Church returned the favour by featuring on his popular track, ‘Asthma’.

Church & AP always had their own unique flavour and now they increasingly made reference to their position in Aotearoa – whether seriously reflecting on their challenges as young Polynesian men (on ‘Nightmares’) or making a fun track about local dating life (‘AKL Girls’). The latter also introduced a new way to reference the YKK crew, with the cover image simply showing the text “+++!” (a visual representation of a zipper).

When it came time for Dera Meelan to release his debut album Zips Galore (2026), they created an artist page for +++!, so it could represent the fact that all the artists involved were from the YKK collective. The album was promoted by one of Church & AP’s most effective tracks of recent times, ‘don’t bite the bait’, which encouraged listeners not to be drawn into unnecessary drama.

By this stage, Church had taken a job as a mentor for Te Karanga Creative Community, which he saw as a “beautiful, full-circle moment”. One of the young rappers he worked with was RNZŌ, who went on to appear with Church & AP on ‘Doin A Lot’ and ‘All 4 U’ (as well as dropping his own acclaimed album, RNZŌ SZN).

The artwork for the album and its accompanying merch was designed by AP and Church says his interest in design goes back to high school.

“Had we not done music, AP would have studied visual art and graphic design. Now he gets to bring that skill into this new medium. Just last week, he was just designing costumes with me for a music video. He’s very multifaceted -–he’s a genuine visual artist on a whole another level, outside of being like a sick rapper. It’s a beautiful thing to see how his artistry developed over time.”

More broadly, Church has come to realise it was a blessing that the pair were thrown together as a duo back in 2017, with AP’s solid skill as a rapper grounding their work over the years.

“It was very helpful to have a person that was open to some of the wackier ideas that I came up with and he’d always help find a way to make them work. I’ve probably seen some of the craziest things I’ve ever experienced alongside him, and I think that bond – which goes both ways – is something that we just will hold forever. It’s like a brotherhood. It’s just developed and grown in a really beautiful way, and I wouldn’t be able to do the things I do today without him.”