Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Young rapper battles back to keep music real

By LAWRENCE GULLERY
Hawkes Bay Today·
2 Jun, 2011 03:35 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

When it comes to hip-hop and rap music, singer Young Sid is 100 per cent sure New Zealanders have it over the Americans in the "being true to the lyrics" department.
"I've been in studios in the US and heard people talk about how much money they have, how many people they shoot, what kind of chains they have and cars they drive. But in reality they've got none of that, so they're making stuff up - it's a fantasy.
"New Zealanders, we like to talk about (in songs) what we are going through and what's real. We sometimes grab a character and talk about their life but that's still real, and that's the difference - we are real people."
Hawke's Bay had a glimpse of what makes the singer "real" when he presented with four other Maori artists at a music workshop for secondary school students in Hastings on Monday.
The artists, who included Maisey Rika and her brother Jay, Taisha Tari and Ruia Aperahama, shared their experiences with the budding musicians before performing at the launch of Waiata Maori Music magazine at the Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings on Tuesday night. They also wrote a song together and recorded a demo version, to be released later this year, at Radio Kahungunu in Hastings.
Young Sid said he wasn't "good at public speaking" but found himself opening up to the students on Monday when he talked about the death of his mum and how his career almost came to a standstill. "I grew up in Otara and in a gang environment. There's a gang called the Killer Beez and some of them are friends and family and they asked me to feature in a song they did with their label. I thought, of course, if it's going to help them do something else positive. We did the song, we did the video clip and then a couple of the members got caught in a police operation."
When it hit the news, television played the video clip, specifically showing Young Sid, even though he was not part of the gang and not wearing gang colours. The impact was huge. He was on the verge of being "blacklisted" by radio stations, venues and concert organisers.
"Every city I went to there was a lot of police. There were articles in the paper saying this guy Young Sid is going to come down with like a busload of Killer Beez gang members and try to recruit.
"I had to really work hard to show people that I wasn't the person I was made out to be."
Soon after Young Sid, who's mum was Maori and father from the Cook Islands, found success with hip-hop group Smash Proof. The group's song, Brother, spent 11 weeks at number one in New Zealand but the chance to enjoy it slipped after news his mum who had been "the rock of our family" had terminal cancer.
"I was going through so much, the media and police scrutiny and my older brother was in jail. It all happened at the same time. So I had the biggest low and the biggest high in one year. But I just had to keep going and keep working so I didn't lose control. Now I am really proud of Smash Proof and can enjoy the success."
Young Sid has been booked to perform at this year's National Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke's Bay in September.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Ocean predator likely cause of whale stranding

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

'Like a truck': Why Hawke’s Bay's geology made a 4.9 quake hit so hard

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

HB netball coaching legend retires after etching Otane's name on cup once more


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

'Slowly gaining my strength': Bindi Irwin on recovery from surgeries
Entertainment

'Slowly gaining my strength': Bindi Irwin on recovery from surgeries

'Her behaviour is pathetic': Judge lambasts woman's five-month theft spree across three regions
New Zealand

'Her behaviour is pathetic': Judge lambasts woman's five-month theft spree across three regions

'Golf balls in the tops of trees': The birds of the Canadian wilderness
Travel

'Golf balls in the tops of trees': The birds of the Canadian wilderness

Melania Trump threatens $1.7b lawsuit over Hunter Biden’s Epstein claims
World

Melania Trump threatens $1.7b lawsuit over Hunter Biden’s Epstein claims

One person critically injured, another arrested after incident near Whakatāne
New Zealand

One person critically injured, another arrested after incident near Whakatāne

Uncomfortable exchange: Coach's awkward interview with young reporter
Entertainment

Uncomfortable exchange: Coach's awkward interview with young reporter



Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Ocean predator likely cause of whale stranding
Hawkes Bay Today

Ocean predator likely cause of whale stranding

The whale already had injuries when it beached and then died in Māhia, DoC says.

14 Aug 04:14 AM
Premium
Premium
'Like a truck': Why Hawke’s Bay's geology made a 4.9 quake hit so hard
Hawkes Bay Today

'Like a truck': Why Hawke’s Bay's geology made a 4.9 quake hit so hard

14 Aug 02:49 AM
Premium
Premium
HB netball coaching legend retires after etching Otane's name on cup once more
Hawkes Bay Today

HB netball coaching legend retires after etching Otane's name on cup once more

14 Aug 02:02 AM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search