Manurewa High School student Joshua Nanai has been signed to Sony Music after one of his songs blew up on TikTok and was sampled by Jason Derulo, who was initially accused of stealing the sample without credit or payment.
In an Instagram Story posted by Nanai yesterday, the young beatmaker broke his silence on rumours his track 'Laxed (Siren Beat)' had been ripped off. He appeared to demonstrate how "literally anyone" could edit the text in the YouTube description box to make it seem as though the song was free to use.
Nanai gave a "shout out" to the "uso" who he says did that, without naming names. Since then, however, the 17-year-old confirmed to NZME that he was being paid for his music and had scored a major record deal.
Nanai said he was "feeling thankful for all of the support so far" and planned to "get Manurewa 67 on the map".
Nanai joins a long line of talented artists and producers born and bred in South Auckland, proving that the area is undoubtedly a hub for some of the countries best music.
'Laxed' was picked up on TikTok as the soundtrack to the viral 'Culture Challenge' dance before Derulo chose it as the beat to his song 'Savage Love'.
The US pop star was flooded with comments on social media demanding that Nanai be credited, prompting Derulo to tag the teenage producer who he said "killed the beat" on Instagram.
UPDATE - The headline previously stated that Joshua Nanai was being paid for the Jason Derulo sample, Sony has since contacted us to say that this has not been confirmed.
Credit to Newshub for the story.
