YOUNG SID x Sunday News:

Sid finds diamond in a dark place
BY LEE UMBERS

"WHAT doesn't kill me" reads the message tattooed across the muscular chest of rapper Young Sid. The four words are the title of the South Auckland artist's award-winning album – and a personal statement of intent.

Sid, real name Sidney Diamond, should have been celebrating the success of his collaborative hip-hop group Smashproof. The band's single, Brother, would spend 11 weeks in a row on top of the New Zealand music charts. Instead, the rising star was shattered by the diagnosis of his mum Victoria Diamond with what would prove fatal lung cancer, plus the imprisonment of his gang-member older brother.

"I wrote the album when I was at my lowest, and I didn't feel any happiness or joy that the others in Smashproof felt when Brother broke the record, because I had so much family sh*t to deal with," Sid, 24, told Sunday News. "My mum was on her way out and my brother was in jail."

Another blow came with the imprisonment of a gang member who appeared in the video of his single Hood Like Me, which had Sid strolling through his Otara streets surrounded by supporters. Media coverage included reruns of the video, with Sid's face prominent. "The rest of New Zealand would have thought, this guy [Sid] is a gang member. `Let's not let him perform in front of our kids 'cause he's probably going to influence them to become gang members', which wasn't true."

In fact, he had made a conscious decision to move away from that lifestyle before even hitting his teens. "Dramas, gangs, drugs, violence... that's all I was seeing when I was growing up. My role models were those types of people. "And then I was like, I'm going to choose another path. [I wanted to] do something that could also inspire [people in] my area to live their dreams."

His change of direction was towards singing and songwriting. Forming the ironically named hip hop group The Murder Squad with three young mates, Sid recorded his first song aged just 11. By 18, he and fellow rappers Tyree and Deach had founded chart-topper Smashproof. Two years later, Sid was opening for American superstar Ice Cube's Manukau concert as well as releasing solo album The Truth – the 2008 Maori Urban Album of the Year.

His rapidly aquired celebrity and rugged good looks also attracted a female fan base interested in more than just his musical skills. Retaining a healthy cynicism over his new-found fame, Sid kept focused on his music. He dug deep into his soul for What Doesn't Kill Me. One of the singles, Here Then Gone, relates to his mother's cancer diagnosis and brave but unsuccessful battle against the disease. The raw emotion of the lyrics and pain in Sid's voice bring listeners to tears. "I don't listen to the song, it's too sad. Everyone [who has heard] it, said that they cried as well. That's cool... I tapped into their emotions."

Another single in the album, You, addresses child abuse, something he said he has witnessed too much of. Sid recalled a boy in his street "getting a hiding" from the child's parents for half an hour solid. Nearly two decades on, he can still hear the repeated swishes of the strap and the boy's repeated howls of agony as it landed.

He has been taking the messages from his songs more directly to his young fans, with regular visits to schools. Sid has even been the subject of college assignments. "I tell them [students] to educate their brains and stay fit and healthy. There's been [some] say... `You're like a role model for me to try and do something better'. [It makes me] proud knowing that my music's done that to them."

What Doesn't Kill Me repeated the success of The Truth, and was 2010 Maori Urban Album of the Year. It also made him a finalist in the Best Pacific Male Artist category in this year's Pacific Music Awards. Sid is honoured to have been recognised by both his cultures. His mother was Maori and his father, Vincent George, is of Cook Islands heritage.

Now a partner in his Move The Crowd Records label, he is working on an EP and a couple of new singles, plus preparing for an Australian tour. He is also hoping to return to New York before the end of the year, to finish off recording work there. He keeps in shape for his frantic schedule through an exercise regime that includes boxing, Muay Thai, basketball and the gym.

Sid's career has taken him to American supercities, European capitals, and exotic Thailand and Korea. "They were real eye-openers. And then you come back to your hood, Otara, [and] you're like, true. It puts it all in perspective. You've seen all these cool places, and you just want to keep travelling. [But] I'll always represent south Auckland."

Source - Sunday News