From homeless to a billion streams: Top Kiwi rapper Savage’s extraordinary rise
Saturday, 25 July 2026
“If I don’t evolve like Snoop Dogg’s evolved, I fall off the face of the Earth,” Savage told me in 2013. “Singles are where it’s at.” We were backstage in Wellington snacking on raw fruit and veges.
Since that exchange, New Zealand’s most internationally successful rapper has become a hit machine. He parted ways amicably with Dawn Raid, and fused hip-hop with EDM (electronic dance music). From the Swing remixes to Freaks, Deja-Vu, The Bender and dark Let Him Cook, Savage continues to reinvent himself - stacking up more than 1.2 billion streams on Spotify, and similarly momentous YouTube numbers. Freaks alone has passed one billion combined streams - one at the Cake Tin when the Hurricanes destroyed the Chiefs, AudioCulture says.
Fallen Angels line “Against all odds, we Kiwis do fly” proved prophetic, multiple times. Swing and Knocked Up the most famous, in 2008.
Savage now lives on the Gold Coast with his family. When we catch up in early July, he remains appreciative.
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Echoing Homegrown 2013 in Wellington, teenage girls were again besotted by Savage’s They Don’t Know at Homegrown 2026 in Hamilton, rain falling as he performed. Before Swing made him a star in America came an extraordinary rise from South Auckland’s roughest streets. “Growing up in South Auckland, you needed to have a sixth sense.”
Record label Dawn Raid’s Deceptikonz dropped their pioneering album Elimination in 2002, hitting #2 on the New Zealand charts. Demetrius Christian Taanuu Savelio’s autobiographical single Broken Home, all domestic violence and paternal neglect, was so visceral.
On Moonshine, his 2005 debut solo album, Savage rapped about overcoming being a suicidal teenager in Set Me Free. It’s his favourite song on the album and particularly close to his heart.
“I try to reach out to people that are going through the same shit. If I’m not out there letting people know that they’re not alone, then I’m not doing my job, not just as a rapper, but as a human being.
“I came from, man, you name it, I pretty much went through it.”
Big Sav was expelled from his first high school, and became caught up in a cycle of gangs, drug dealing and violence and getting into some serious trouble.
“I did a lot of bad things … I put myself in a lot of hard situations … I had to go into hiding. I had a lot of people after me.”
At his lowest ebb, he was homeless and sleeping under bridges - the experience that inspired Set Me Free. “I was singing about my darkest, darkest hours when I was on the streets, that’s the part where I don’t wanna live. Then to the music side where I’ve actually got something to fight and live for.”
Savage continues to be an anti-suicide advocate, producing moving and uplifting tracks like 2019’s Reach Out. “I lost so many friends to suicide. … Reach Out came right after the loss of my niece. It was tough to see my kids and all their cousins suffer through their grief.”
In contrast, Savage is still best known for his humorous party anthems, and features on leading Sydney rapper Hefs’ playful new music video Whistle, where the pair play duelling beach volleyball coaches. “He’s a workaholic, that kid.”
Savage maintains his trademark sharply groomed facial hair and understated chains around his neck. He’s lost a lot of weight and toned up. How much? “I’ve lost a fair bit,” he laughs. “I realised I want to stick around a lot longer, so I focus on that more than I used to. It’s been a good journey. I feel great. The live shows are so much more fun.”
Speaking of sport, last year Savage - ever the Warriors champion, even through their Covid slump - composed an anthem for the Wahs. He’s performed Warriors Nation in Las Vegas at an NRL event and at multiple Warriors games this year. The track fits neatly into Savage’s traditions of community, inspiration, overcoming and the occasional roast. “Put the fear of God in them!,” one line declares.
He always takes his Bible, a gift from his mum Aiga, wherever he goes in America. “My favourite passage is Psalm 23:4 and that’s what I feel has been my life,” he pauses. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil: for thou art with me…” His words are steely like Savagefeel on Tha Feelstyle’s Samoan-language Break It To Pieces.
His favourite American rappers to open for and tour with were Xzibit and the late DMX. “The most genuine, down-to-earth dudes … I learnt a lot just watching them, and their passion and energy.
“DMX’s live performance, you just can’t match it, man. When you go to a concert and you see those speakers that are tied up with chains that go all the way to the ceiling? He climbed all the way to the top. … Another thing I took away from DMX was prayer before shows.”
Those reflective moments before Savage goes on stage? “I always thank the Lord for his blessings, to give me enough strength to get up there and put on a good show.”
Jagged yet melodic, idiosyncratic and authentic, Savage’s style through songs like Not Many: the Remix brings to mind Wu-Tang Clan’s ODB.
“I was a massive fan of ODB,” he enthuses. “I got to meet some of those Wu-Tang Clan icons. Me and Mareko were at Raekwon’s birthday in New York when we were recording Moonshine. That was crazy.”
He’s looking forward to coming home to play at Wellington’s Great Sounds Great. “It’s going to be cool to see Bic Runga. I don’t think I’ve been on the same stage with her since Rhythm and Vines. For my set, a Savage DJ journey, from They Don’t Know and Moonshine, to Freaks and Whistle.”
So many memorable songs. Crunch. Wild Out. Stop, Drop and Roll. I Love the Islands. JGeeks’ Down. Savage was the heart of Oscar Kightley’s vivid 2021 documentary Dawn Raid.
“My life’s a f…ing movie, man. It’s a rollercoaster of a movie.”
Great Sounds Great, September 5, Wellington. Tickets: eyegum.co.nz