ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: triple j, November 2020
"It's changing an attitude towards life; it's a new thing for us."
This month marks a touchstone moment for Mount Druitt drill heroes ONEFOUR: the release of their long-awaited debut EP, Against All Odds.
It represents a journey none of them expected to embark on. It’s a journey that has been defined by struggle, public scrutiny and adversity. Yet at the same time, it’s seen a whole new spotlight become focused on a group of young Pacific Islanders blazing a new trail for Australian-bred rap.
Depending on how invested you are in the story, ONEFOUR are either underground drill pioneers turned leaders, or they’re thugs with a platform.
With three of their members currently incarcerated, it’s easy to push the narrative that the group pose a strong threat to the wider community. Talking to the public faces of ONEFOUR - Spenny and J Emz - it’s clear that this isn’t one they’re interested in promoting.
"We feel good about it,” Spenny says of the group’s forthcoming release.
“We feel like there’s gonna be more young islander kids that are gonna come up and do what we’re doing now, because of the levels we’re doing it at. It’s good for us to set an example through the work; that we can show them that if you do put your head to things, you can get to the levels we get to.”
The cautious and deliberate nature both Spenny and J Emz initially speak with is in direct contrast to the confident and braggadocious presence you hear on record. But it makes sense; these are people who have been grown up in an environment where silence protects your own and now they’re in a new one, where public knowledge is everything.
As conversation moves from the music to the impact they feel the group can have on younger generations of Pacific Islanders, J Emz and Spenny are more spirited. The importance of the platform they now have has not been lost on them.
“We never thought that our music would make this much of an impact, you know?” J Emz says.
“But as we’ve progressed and through everything we’ve been achieving, we’ve realised it actually is something.”
Fame and notoriety at the level they’ve achieved isn’t something ONEFOUR had on the cards when they first started pursuing music seriously. The work has continued behind the scenes as the praise rolls in, with the group instead taking each moment as a learning experience, pouring it all into the EP.
It’s where Against All Odds really shines: ONEFOUR emerge as storytellers with observations on a music career that only few could match.
Songs like ‘Welcome To Prison’ and ‘Home And Away’ saw ONEFOUR veer away from their harder drill stylings, opting for more reflective moments where they allowed vulnerability to take centre stage.
Releasing a track like ‘Welcome To Prison’ came at a time where the whirlwind of attention surrounding ONEFOUR was at a particular peak.
The sentencing and imprisonment of members YP, Lekks and Celly last year over their role in a 2018 brawl capped off a year that saw the group’s forced cancellation of shows due to alleged police pressure on venues and promoters.
The group’s history with law enforcement is presented with lyrical frustration but even then, these are bars that turn into millions of views and streams, not to mention spurring on a growing global fanbase that hangs on every word.
Most recently, ONEFOUR released their latest single - another collaboration with fellow international trailblazer The Kid LAROI - in ‘My City’. It follows on from a hectic hat trick of international collabs that saw them jump on tracks with Headie One, A$AP Ferg and Dutchavelli.
“I personally feel like it came naturally.” J Emz says of ONEFOUR’s recent link ups. “We didn’t have to prove ourselves to them. Hearing other artists and seeing what they go through, [you see] the similarities.”
An artist like Headie One perhaps shares some of the strongest similarities to ONEFOUR. Recently we were able to take a dive into the British rapper’s life and journey with his debut album Edna; in a similar way to the music ONEFOUR are making, his stories and observations have a cautionary air to them.
J Emz and Spenny know that with their music, the negative connotations associated with gang life (performative or not) aren’t going to go away. But as with Headie One’s rise to success, say, theirs is also one that highlights how people can succeed outside systems that have been built for them to fail within.
“[The negative] stuff has been highlighted, but our work and the things that we have achieved has also been taken seriously as well.” J Emz says. “People can see that there are big things and good things that we’ve been accomplishing.”
They’ve also had to establish and work around a new business model that can serve them as independent artists, as well as artists who have the unique conditions that they do on top of everything else.
The success of the group’s music has not just brought ONEFOUR fame, but it’s given the young rappers on the outside the opportunity to explore new endeavours. Still only in their early twenties, J Emz and Spenny are now in the position to grow their team and employ people in their community and circle to become part of the fold.
For anyone who shares a Pasifika background, this innate sense of holding your own down is nothing new. And it’s why, when pressed on it, J Emz and Spenny don’t see what they’re doing as revolutionary.
The Samoan sense of aiga or ‘family’ runs strong with the ONEFOUR crew. And though YP, Lekks and Celly aren’t able to reap the rewards of the group’s successes behind bars, their presence is still felt strongly both on record, and with the other members of the crew.
“They’re excited,” Spenny says. “The boys have just been doing their time, they’ve been leaving it up to me and J Emz to take care of everything, pretty much. They call in and ask questions about it all; it’ll still be here for them.”
J Emz agrees. It’s going to be new territory for the other ONEFOUR members to re-enter into, but he, Spenny and the wider team are making sure that it’s one they’ll be able to enjoy and grow from, as they have.
“Before they went to jail, none of this was actually happening.” He says. “They never got to experience anything we’re going through now, all the fun we’re having.”
“They’re taking it as it comes, taking in what they hear over the phone, but they’re proud of us. Of course, they want to be a part of it, but those walls are holding them back. When they come home, they’ll be able to be part of it.”
Releasing the record in the middle of a pandemic isn’t something that’s been as much of an issue for ONEFOUR as it has been for other artists. As J Emz and Spenny point out, perhaps this time of forced inaction will give people an idea of what they’ve had to go through.
“When it [Coronavirus] really did hit, it gave us time to really work on this EP,” Spenny says. “It really was a blessing in disguise.”
“We weren’t allowed to do shows anyway, but we’d perform in the studio so it gave us the upper hand in making music.” J Emz adds.
“Maybe with this project, people will understand how seriously we take music and doors will begin to open, you know?”
Looking ahead to the release of the EP, J Emz and Spenny aren’t nervous about the reactions to it; they’re keen to see how much further it takes the group. They don’t necessarily see themselves as role models for Islander youth in Australia, but definitely feel that their success can have a ripple effect for other aspiring artists to now have it a bit easier.
Their families haven’t heard the record yet, but they know the impact of ONEFOUR’s music is much larger than just playlist and charting success.
“My dad loves the music and that but it’s not their type of thing!” J Emz says. “They like what we’re doing and they know what it means. It means something.”
“It’s changing an attitude towards life,” Spenny adds. “It’s a new thing for us.”