Whangarei's Kori Reweti is one rapper who's earning the right to brag.
Over the next month the Tikipunga 21-year-old - now based in Auckland - will have released a CD and music video, appeared on a Maori Television music show and attempted to set a world record for non-stop rapping.
All the same, he still has a lot of work to do to make his name in the music scene.
"You could compare it to some person trying to grow some dreadlocks when he's in the afro stage," he said.
His shot at "endurance rapping", believed to be a world first, should raise his profile.
"I'm trying to do 27 hours.
"There's a guy that played a guitar and sang for 26 hours straight.
"We are going to try an blow him out of the water by doing it for an extra hour," Korza said.
He's already done it for five hours and would be trying a 15-hour warm-up this Saturday in Whangarei.
He said he would have a special seat up front for Whangarei district councillor Frank Newman, who recently tried to have funding pulled from next month's Matariki concert, featuring Che Fu and Nesian Mystik.
"I'd give him the front seat.
"He can sit right next to me," Korza said, adding that the concert would be "uplifting" for Whangarei youth, and he hoped to be able to take part in it.
Korza said that rapping for hours on end wasn't that hard, apart from a sore chest the next day.
"It was mainly trying to stretch the voice out."
For the first few hours of the 27-hour attempt, he planned to "run on faith" with what was in his head.
Then he would probably switch from "free style" to songs he has written.
A judge would be close by throughout the event to make sure he did not stop, apart from five-minute breaks allowed every hour.
Korza said he would be appearing on Maori Television's music show Coast tonight.
In July, he would head to Australia for shows near Brisbane.
But meanwhile he was working "hard out" to establish himself in the Auckland music scene.
Rapper aims for world record
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