00:00:00
that that video so so the video was shot
00:00:02
before the song came out and it shows
00:00:03
you at like um one of those blue sky
00:00:05
parties or whatever it is so so you were
00:00:08
performing don't worry about it you know
00:00:10
generally yeah yeah he does the
00:00:11
brickfish on George good dude good
00:00:13
friend good friend of mine like I I he's
00:00:15
a family friend actually so he was
00:00:19
helping me get into the music scene um I
00:00:21
dropped a few songs with Dan Ox from
00:00:23
Georgia fil as well and Jim Lee was like
00:00:26
bro do you want to come to Fiji and I
00:00:27
was like [ __ ] like [ __ ] yeah let's go uh
00:00:30
sweet and like they pay for the ticket
00:00:32
and everything and I MC and I thought
00:00:35
while I'm here why not cuz I'm so MC
00:00:37
asn't like rapping rapping yeah yeah
00:00:39
like Rapp singing and U see there's a
00:00:41
performer but no one really underr mate
00:00:45
yeah for sure I was not Kings at the
00:00:46
time and um yeah so I I just thought I'm
00:00:49
never going to be in Fiji again I should
00:00:51
film a music video here and um that was
00:00:53
the inspiration literally I was walking
00:00:54
around with the camera Lee was kind of
00:00:55
like bro you're B like what are you
00:00:57
doing come and chill with us I'm like
00:00:58
Noah no no this is my only because I'm
00:01:00
never going to make it to Fiji again you
00:01:02
know um and I shot that music video
00:01:05
there so so then how does this how does
00:01:07
the song get out like do you Geor yeah
00:01:10
okay so do you put it on Soundcloud or
00:01:12
whatever or you just give like Lee a
00:01:13
copy or Dan a copy yeah I chucked it on
00:01:16
Soundcloud um which for anyone who does
00:01:19
a SoundCloud or thing anymore I don't
00:01:21
even know if yeah SoundCloud kind of
00:01:23
like before Spotify um yeah I checked it
00:01:26
up on my Spotify page oh [ __ ] sorry my
00:01:28
SoundCloud page Georgia F gave it a
00:01:31
couple spins because I was general's
00:01:33
friend and Dan ox and um nothing
00:01:36
happened bro to be honest three months
00:01:37
ago by nothing happens it gets like
00:01:39
maybe 2,000 spins I'm thinking that's a
00:01:41
lot of spins for me
00:01:43
2,000 um and I would say in the 3 four
00:01:47
month Mark [ __ ] just started getting
00:01:50
crazy like i' would get an email from
00:01:52
Capital Records being like hi did you
00:01:54
release the song toor about I'm like
00:01:55
yeah like would like to talk to you
00:01:57
about a deal and I'm like what like
00:01:59
Capital Records and Island records and
00:02:01
Warner and Sony
00:02:03
and just from just from being played on
00:02:05
George just being on yeah just being out
00:02:08
was was there a moment that you felt the
00:02:09
sort of ground swell like oh I don't
00:02:11
know where this is going to go it was
00:02:13
about 3 four months in yeah yeah so
00:02:14
again like a normal release you just
00:02:15
drop a song and then you hope for the
00:02:16
best right um and that's what I did and
00:02:19
I just did not expect it to do what it
00:02:21
did and yeah really yeah that's
00:02:24
interesting because I feel like it's
00:02:25
it's one of those songs as soon as you
00:02:27
hear it as soon as you hear those
00:02:28
opening oo and
00:02:30
just makes you feel a certain way I feel
00:02:33
like you know it just RS of a hit yeah
00:02:35
yeah I me yeah did did you not feel I
00:02:38
can confidently say no I didn't think it
00:02:40
I was I was sure I liked it that was all
00:02:44
I knew I knew I liked it and I knew that
00:02:46
I was happy with the
00:02:47
beat and that's it bro yeah so you just
00:02:50
had no expect I suppose you had nothing
00:02:52
to go on like no I know what exactly bro
00:02:54
I didn't know what a hit was yeah so
00:02:57
yeah so um so play plays on George and
00:02:59
then other radio like um the Ed where I
00:03:02
jump on that's where we got the catch up
00:03:03
yeah and ZM they they jump on it as well
00:03:06
and um yeah how fast do you think that
00:03:09
was from there cuz I feel like that was
00:03:12
quick like once I got on the edge and ZM
00:03:15
cuz you guys were the at the time the
00:03:18
stations like the mainstream we hit you
00:03:20
guys it's like game over cross over
00:03:22
exactly yeah do do it's radio still
00:03:24
important does it still have a place oh
00:03:27
man it's hard to like so the reason I
00:03:31
bring this up because I I noticed um
00:03:34
when I was researching this interview um
00:03:35
so don't worry about it massive on
00:03:37
Spotify but you've got a song called six
00:03:39
figures which i' hand on heart never
00:03:41
heard of yeah right that's got more
00:03:43
listens on Spotify that's had no radio
00:03:45
play that did pretty well too yeah uh
00:03:47
mym jumped on that actually oh did they
00:03:49
but but I don't think it was the success
00:03:51
of that song was um I guess the same
00:03:53
thing bro like I really enjoyed the
00:03:55
process of making it I like the song it
00:03:58
was the first time I'd seen six figures
00:03:59
in my bank account that was literally
00:04:01
why I wrote the song six what was that
00:04:03
from like an advance from uh uh it was a
00:04:05
deal that I did yeah wow a deal when it
00:04:07
was yeah just it was over six figures it
00:04:10
was a six fig deal um [ __ ] from from who
00:04:14
uh yeah without getting into too much
00:04:15
that was just like a a couple contracts
00:04:18
one after the other I can kind of say
00:04:21
what it it was like a so the E New
00:04:22
Zealand thing was like a big thing we
00:04:24
don't have to talk about that but I did
00:04:25
it oh the safety video that was a pretty
00:04:27
big that's right I forgot about the
00:04:28
safety video yeah and was it Julian
00:04:30
Dennison Julian Dennison and um another
00:04:33
rapper called I forget the name oh
00:04:35
mayard mayard [ __ ] no way you got like
00:04:38
100k for no no no I say exactly what I
00:04:40
say I would say that um but I will say
00:04:43
it was a culmination of things in that
00:04:46
time right okay so you just had the
00:04:47
money just started piling up did it did
00:04:50
yeah you look back now did feel like it
00:04:52
happened quite sudden suddenly quite
00:04:54
quickly from don't worry about it
00:04:56
yeah like just like an exponential curve
00:04:59
yeah yeah bro really did yeah yeah yeah
00:05:01
for sure I don't think anyone could be
00:05:03
prepared for something like that to be
00:05:04
honest I put I put on a bunch of weight
00:05:07
yeah it was crazy I remember I remember
00:05:11
not being sure who to trust do you know
00:05:13
what I mean like even some of my friends
00:05:14
that I hadn't talked to in a long time
00:05:16
popped up again and I was like how cool
00:05:19
but then I'm thinking like wait why are
00:05:21
they popping out I didn't even ask the
00:05:22
question cuz you you don't and then you
00:05:24
kind of see them hanging around more and
00:05:27
weird things and you feel like always
00:05:29
saying your name like oh yo yo bro the
00:05:31
bro yeah and I'm like we wenten this
00:05:34
close I don't remember being this close
00:05:36
yeah uh I mean I I I I can't relate but
00:05:39
I can imagine that's a level of um
00:05:41
sudden Fame could be quite isolating
00:05:42
yeah it was isolating that's actually
00:05:44
the right word I felt alone in a time
00:05:46
where I was surrounded by people um I
00:05:50
never get it it well I think I think
00:05:52
yeah so um here number one for 33 weeks
00:05:56
how how does that happen so the previous
00:05:59
um longest stay at number one I think
00:06:00
was Lord with Royals which was like 16
00:06:02
weeks how does it I and I I went back
00:06:04
through to look at some of the chats and
00:06:06
it's it's not like it was a dry spell
00:06:07
and music where there was no competition
00:06:09
you know there was some big names bro
00:06:11
yeah it was probably when Justin Bieber
00:06:13
was at his Peak U chain smokers were at
00:06:15
their Peak there was a lot of
00:06:16
competition how do you st is that from
00:06:18
like radio airplays or spotifly listens
00:06:20
or I'll give a shout out to Warner for
00:06:22
that one what Warner I've signed to
00:06:24
Warner for that single um huge shout out
00:06:26
to Warner shout out to Marty shout out
00:06:27
to Phil uh they they orchestrated that
00:06:31
whole thing they actually taught me how
00:06:33
to create a hit the song was a hit like
00:06:35
as you said you heard it as a hit but
00:06:38
there's a machine behind it bro and it's
00:06:40
like it's so exciting to watch you know
00:06:44
you got this radio onv at this time we
00:06:45
going to do a photo shoot here that
00:06:47
that's going to talk to Nike and Nike's
00:06:48
it's like this beautiful machine uh that
00:06:51
I had the privil privilege of watching
00:06:53
them do for don't worry about it and I
00:06:55
emulated it for six figures yeah see so
00:06:58
had so had had War come along so they
00:07:00
hear they hear it on George or the ede
00:07:01
or whatever and then y so shout out to
00:07:03
Matt hland who was my first manager my
00:07:05
first proper manager oh was he yeah you
00:07:07
know I love M oh yes he's good he looked
00:07:09
after me he's the one who started my my
00:07:11
thing I don't know that of course you
00:07:13
would know him actually from no no think
00:07:15
I first met him when he was at um maybe
00:07:17
at Warners and um we we went on a trip
00:07:20
to beach coll Fiji with fur Patrol he
00:07:22
was looking after fur Patrol at yes he's
00:07:24
been looking after a lot of artists and
00:07:26
so I got a um an email from J
00:07:29
bulletproof has passed away since over
00:07:31
peace and he said yo you got to talk to
00:07:33
Mt hin um he will look after you with
00:07:35
all these emails coming and he he's the
00:07:37
guy so got on a call with Matt I think
00:07:39
he was on his honeymoon uh with step and
00:07:42
he goes well I'll call you back next
00:07:44
week and he calls me next week we do a
00:07:46
deal and within a month he's like got a
00:07:49
deal with war a good deal too like a
00:07:51
really cool deal and don't worry about
00:07:54
it comes out and the rest is kind of
00:07:56
history from from there on like but
00:07:58
don't worry about it was was already out
00:07:59
right yeah yeah sorry no no no sorry no
00:08:03
yes don't worry about it was already out
00:08:04
on my SoundCloud but it hadn't
00:08:06
officially been okay uh released to
00:08:08
radio yeah yeah yeah and and did they
00:08:10
they try and were they okay with the
00:08:12
music video no no they [ __ ] hated it
00:08:16
cuz like I mean it's um you look at it
00:08:19
now and it's like there's there's apps
00:08:20
on your phone where you can put a video
00:08:21
like that together but um I was the
00:08:23
first one to do it yeah I was going to
00:08:25
say that you were the innovator no one
00:08:26
else was doing this at the time I feel
00:08:27
like you know so fny say that
00:08:30
a lot of people thought that it was
00:08:32
corny because it like if you look at it
00:08:33
it looks like a home style video it's
00:08:35
like quite Hy almost but I remember
00:08:38
thinking like this is cool because it
00:08:40
encapsulates what it was it was a dude
00:08:42
on holiday in FG like it wasn't a music
00:08:45
video with a super budget but yeah War
00:08:48
hated it War were like ah this [ __ ]
00:08:52
sucks what did they want to do did they
00:08:55
have like a treatment that they wanted
00:08:56
to do yeah yeah they
00:08:58
did it was [ __ ] um they wanted me to be
00:09:03
around some pretty girls and be singing
00:09:04
on a beach in camera and I politely
00:09:08
turned it down I just thought it cuz you
00:09:10
don't like beaches you
00:09:11
don't no I justo it just was dumb just
00:09:15
felt dumb where where did where did that
00:09:18
confidence come from to say no to that
00:09:19
CU you know I was saying before that was
00:09:20
around where my dad came in that's I say
00:09:22
that's the walk walk T stuff I came
00:09:23
around there cuz my dad was was around
00:09:26
and he used to ask me questions and
00:09:28
that's kind of how he fathers he'll be
00:09:30
like he won't even say no he'll say what
00:09:33
do you think and like you know so
00:09:36
similar with the music videos like do
00:09:37
you want to shoot another video and I'll
00:09:38
be like not really you'll be like why
00:09:40
and I'll be oh I think the video is go
00:09:42
as itself okay
00:09:44
cool that's your answer so then I'd go
00:09:47
back and say I think the video is good
00:09:48
by itself but that that that takes a lot
00:09:50
of confidence I I think to to stand up
00:09:53
for that you know because you're like
00:09:55
the this is their job they know what
00:09:57
they're doing what the [ __ ] do I know
00:09:59
yeah um to have I think that says um
00:10:01
says a lot about you because it' be easy
00:10:02
to just just Buckle yeah confidence is a
00:10:06
cool word like ignorance could be
00:10:07
another way of putting it like stupid
00:10:09
and ignorant like I mean POS as
00:10:12
confidence I uh I appreciate the
00:10:16
compliment bro yeah I I like to think
00:10:17
now more confident but I think back then
00:10:19
it was a lot
00:10:20
of ignorance and probably me thinking I
00:10:23
knew what was right like you said in
00:10:25
front of someone who's done this for
00:10:27
years I thought I knew it was right and
00:10:30
a bit Kanye of me I think a bit Kanye
00:10:32
wsty of me to to try to do that oh no
00:10:35
that's really cool and then um so so
00:10:37
when a song goes to number one it stays
00:10:38
there for 33 weeks do you get much money
00:10:41
from there no no so the money comes from
00:10:44
like like the Year New Zealand deal
00:10:46
doing live shows yeah yeah yeah so yeah
00:10:49
so so what do you what do you get like
00:10:50
it's the biggest song ever you know gets
00:10:52
played on the radio every 3 hours or
00:10:54
whatever for couple of months you get
00:10:57
you get like some money from there yeah
00:10:59
yeah for sure it's like a royalty um H
00:11:00
out just [ __ ] all no it's just it's a
00:11:03
bit way to say it is
00:11:05
like it's quarterly so so it's in the
00:11:09
long term it's actually a lot of money
00:11:11
but in the short quarterly period it
00:11:13
seems like not much you know um for a
00:11:15
number one hit song like everyone's
00:11:16
saying yo you got the number one hit I'm
00:11:18
like do I kind of get
00:11:21
guess so yeah it's if I could put a
00:11:25
figure on it back then I can barely
00:11:27
remember but it was I want to say
00:11:30
1,500 every two months yeah it's not a
00:11:34
lot eh no it doesn't sound like much but
00:11:36
like still today it's kind of like that
00:11:39
right so like since six years ago that's
00:11:41
plus the other hit songs plus the other
00:11:43
songs it starts to make sense but um at
00:11:46
the time it's like I got a number one
00:11:47
song and this is this is all you get in
00:11:50
roties yeah okay so so that's um from
00:11:52
Radio the money that radio pays and then
00:11:55
um so SP Spotify it's like 25 million
00:11:57
listens or something you get much money
00:11:59
bro it's
00:12:00
0.008 cents per Stream So I mean do the
00:12:04
math I don't even know what that is I
00:12:05
think it's like 257 streams for
00:12:10
[Music]
00:12:18
$1
