Two men behind some of the biggest names in New Zealand's hip-hop scene are accused of raping and sexually assaulting a heavily intoxicated woman in a Tauranga motel room.

Mark Arona, 40, and Peter John Chambers, 42, who are well-known hip-hop music producers and DJs, deny the allegations.

The pair, who are on trial in the Tauranga District Court, claim they had a threesome with the woman and it was consensual.

She says she felt "like ragdoll" and was powerless to consent after blacking out.

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The complainant made the comment while giving evidence against Arona and Chambers at their jury trial which began in the Tauranga District Court on Monday.

Chambers is charged as the principal offender in the rape allegation and Arona as party to it.

The woman, who has automatic suppression, said the sexual assault and rape happened after she blacked out after becoming heavily intoxicated and sharing a cannabis joint.

She remembered waking up face down on a bed in a motel room. and one of the two men was having sexual intercourse with her.

The complainant said she couldn't breathe, felt numb and also recalled one of the accused saying to the other, "look what I can do to her bro, and she's not even flinching".

The woman said she heard one defendant encouraging his associate to also join in and he also sexually assaulted her.

"I could hear them talking to each other about what they were going to do to me...I didn't feel like my body was mine, and I felt like a rag doll," she said.

The woman also recalled vomiting over the side of the bed and her next memory was of waking up hours later with just a sheet over her, and no clothes on.

She told the court Chambers was asleep in the bed next to her, and another man was also asleep in the room but it wasn't until later that she confirmed his identity as Arona.

At the start of the trial, Arona's lawyer Rebekah Webby urged the jury to keep an open mind and not to pre-judge her client who insisted the sexual acts were consensual.

The complainant's allegations did not have a ring of truth and the jury must acquit her client of both charges, Ms Webby said.

During cross-examination yesterday, she put to the complainant that she had made up her version of events.

"From your account, you were grossly intoxicated and could be mistaken on what happened in that room," she said

The complainant hit back at the proposition.

"No, I have very vivid memories and flashbacks of what happened...It's absolutely absurd to suggest I'm making this incident up. I have thought about this almost every day since, and it has haunted me since it had happened," she said.

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these acts were not consensual. I was not in an able state to respond or consent. This why I here today. I'm telling you this is what happened that night," she said.

Ms Webby also put to the complainant that she had walked into the room freely, was flirtatious, and coherent enough to converse with the two accused during the encounter.

The woman vehemently denied that was the case.

In her opening statement, Moana Dorset, the lawyer for Chambers, said her client's position was his sexual encounter with the complainant was consensual.

"The complainant was not stoned. She initiated the sexual intercourse and enjoyed it," she said.

"This is not about my client's moral compass and the jury needs to make an objective assessment of the evidence to separate fiction from the truth, as the complainant has made up the story for whatever reason," she said.

The jury yesterday listened to two recorded phone calls between the complainant and both accused, in which she repeatedly insisted she had no knowledge of giving her consent, and telling them they knew that to be the case.

In the telephone recording, Arona is also heard to ask the complainant to keep what happened in the room "under wraps".

Chambers told the complainant he was wasted but "nothing sinister" had happened and despite her feeling bad, she had not been raped.

He also urged her to keep their sexual encounter between the three of them.

Both defendants have worked in the New Zealand music industry for nearly 20 years.

Arona is one of the founders and chief executive officer of the independent hip-hop entertainment company Illegal Musik.

He is also known as MC Patriarch of the Kiwi based hip-hop group Ill Semantics.

Chambers, whose stage name is DJ CXL, also teaches music to young people and mentors upcoming artists, the court heard.

Arona and Chambers, are friends and associates who have been producing music and performing together for many years.

The trial continues today, with Chambers' lawyer cross-examining the complainant.

The charges
Peter John Chambers faces one charge of sexual violation by rape [charged as principal alleged offender ] and one charge of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

Mark Arona faces one charge of sexual violation by rape [charged as being a party to that alleged offence] and one charge of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.