Onefour (stylised in all caps: ONEFOUR) are an Australian drill and rap group originating from the Western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt. They are regarded by many as the pioneers of drill music in Australia, following a run of viral singles in 2019. The group has four core members: J Emz, Spenny, Lekks and Celly.
YP was also a member but he left the group in 2024 to focus on religion.
Their debut album Against All Odds, released in November 2020, peaked at #7 on the ARIA Charts (Australia) and #8 in New Zealand.
Name and history
The core members grew up in Mount Druitt, one of Sydney's most disadvantaged suburbs.[2] They knew each other from their schools and their local church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Onefour members still identify as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are of Samoan descent.[3][4]
Onefour's name has been reported to derive from a local street gang, NF14; however, the members say that it is from 2014, the year they launched as a hip hop group.[2]
The group's rivalry with 21District (a group from Parramatta) plays a big role in their lyrics. The rivalry applies to a greater crime and gang war between the Greater West suburbs of Sydney and the Inner West suburbs of Sydney stemming back to the 1990s.[5]
Onefour have been labelled Australia's first drill rappers,[1][9] with a sound heavily derivative of UK drill music, with the group incorporating UK drill's production style.[10][9] However, they have a unique sound, which represents a Western Sydney subculture where young men are "lads", "earchers" or "eshays". Onefour were the first Islanders in this subculture to rap in an Australian accent.[11]
Their original singles "The Message" and "Spot the Difference" had a UK-inspired production and lyric style (influenced by group Harlem Spartans), but with an Australian accent.[citation needed] "The Message" includes a line that references the stabbing death of Tino Henry, a member of 21 District, as well as other lyrics mentioning retaliation and the use of knives.[2]
However they rarely perform live (8 shows in the 6 years preceding November 2023), which they blame on intervention by police. After their music had started to take off, they were booked as the supporting act for UK rapper Dave in Sydney and Melbourne on his tour of Australia in 2019. However, after the venues were informed about the potential risks of violence with 21 Districts by police, they cancelled the acts. Later in the year, the band announced their first headline tour playing in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and Auckland. All venues cancelled apart from Auckland, and Spenny was the only member to perform there; YP, Celly, and Lekks were not allowed to leave the country owing to upcoming court appearances, and J Emz was denied entry to New Zealand on arrival because of his criminal history.[2]
In May 2022, The Kid Laroi called them onto the stage, unannounced, in front of a crowd of 20,000 in Sydney – Onefour's first performance in two and a half years. They performed at the 2023 Listen Out festival.[2]
Popularity and recognition
The video for their single "In the Beginning" achieved one million views on YouTube in 48 hours,[12] and became the group's first single to chart, debuting at number 39 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[13]
As of November 2023[update] Onefour has around 730,300 monthly listeners on Spotify, 318,000 subscribers on YouTube, and their music videos have been viewed millions of times. This makes them one of the biggest hip hop groups in the country.[2]
Legal issues
While the group has established themselves as one of the most prominent acts to have come out of Australia, the group has also been plagued by run-ins with the law.
In July 2019, at a time when violent street gangs had been active in western Sydney, Strike Force Raptor, a branch of NSW Police focused on organised crime, heard that some of Onefour's lyrics had the potential to incite acts of violence by these gangs.[2]
Police have admitted to doing "everything in [their] power" to have them stop rapping about outlaw bikie gangs, and so-called "postcode wars" (gang violence associated with different suburbs), and inciting violence. Police have tried to get their music pulled from streaming platforms.[16][5] In 2019, Onefour were forced to cancel their first national tour following police pressure on venues.[17][18][19][11]
In December 2019, three members of the rap group – YP (Pio Misa), Lekks (Salec Su'a), Celly (Dahcell Ramos) – were jailed over several charges including reckless grievous bodily harm after a violent interaction at the Carousel Inn in Rooty Hill in July 2018.[20][2] Justice James Bennett, who delivered the sentences, said that the fight was the result of an escalation of an argument which included "racial comments".[2]
Misa (YP) was sentenced to four years in prison with a two-year non-parole period; he was released in December 2021.[20][2]
Su'a (Lekks) was sentenced to four-and-a-half years' jail with a non-parole period of two years and three months, eligible for parole in December 2021. He was deported to New Zealand in January 2023,[2] and appeared at a show in Tauranga with Spenny on 3 January 2023.[21]
Ramos (Celly) was sentenced to ten years' jail with a non-parole period of six, for having hit a man in the head with a hammer repeatedly.[2] He was originally eligible for parole in December 2024.[22] However, after appealing his charges, his sentence was reduced to eight years' jail with a non-parole period of four years and nine months, after the appeal judge heard that he was remorseful, and had rehabilitated. He had had a tough childhood which had led to substance abuse as well as ongoing depression. He was released on 7 June 2023.[4][23][2]
In 2022, OneFour distanced itself from the NF14 gang.[1] While police remain concerned about their use of referencing violence in their lyrics, with Detective Inspector Weinstein saying "It is pretty well entrenched in drill music that unless you’ve done that crime or you are in that gang, you cannot sing about that actual activity", they say that their lyrics are honest and they are just talking about their lives, not inciting violence. Professor Jioji Ravulo, chair of social work and policy studies at the University of Sydney, whose research concentrates on young people in the criminal justice system, says that "music is therapeutic for disenfranchised young people" and does not in itself provoke crime.[2]
Murder plot
On 11 January 2024, police raided the houses of two men, arresting 26-year-old Brandon Maseuli and 20-year-old Yousef Rima over an alleged plot to kill YP, Celly14, Spenny and J Emz for "financial reward". One man was charged with 20 offences and the other man with five, both including conspiracy to murder. Onefour had no knowledge of the threat to them.[24]
^"Say It Again" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but did peak at number twelve on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[34]
^"Won't Stop" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but did peak at number thirty on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[36]
^"Street Guide (Part 01)" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but did peak at number six on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[37]
^"Breaks & Caddy's (Street Guide, Pt. 2)" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 13 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[39]
^"Out of Sight" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number five on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[42]
^"Cap" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 12 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[45]
^"Cruise Control" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number nine on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[46]
^"Freedom of Speech" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number six on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[49]
^"Natural Habitat" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 23 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[50]
^"Prove 'Em Wrong" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 12 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[52]
^"Gang Ties" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 10 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[53]
^"Spinnin" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 29 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[54]
Awards and nominations
APRA Awards
The APRA Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) to recognise composing and song-writing skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005. Onefour have received one nomination.[61]
"Street Guide (Part 01)": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 29 March 2021". The ARIA Report. No. 1621. Australian Recording Industry Association. 29 March 2021. p. 4.
"Out of Sight": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 21 February 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1668. Australian Recording Industry Association. 21 February 2022. p. 4.
"Cruise Control": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 23 May 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1681. Australian Recording Industry Association. 23 May 2022. p. 4.
"Comma's": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 20 March 2023". The ARIA Report. No. 1724. Australian Recording Industry Association. 20 March 2023. p. 4.
