Before signing to Sony late last year, Hamilton-rasied rapper Vayne was dropping confronting, raw raps as her alter-ego Gutta Girl. She's just release a new EP with the same defiant and unashamed energy.
Music 101's Charlotte Ryan spoke to Vayne about music, empowerment, and her journey from stripper to rapper.
In her new single 'YUCK!', 20-year-old rapper Vayne describes the insults various men have levelled at her in vivid, remorseless detail. Her music is not for the faint hearted. Vayne's musical choices are fearless and combative, telling the story of a young woman who will not take any crap.
A headstrong wahine Māori, Vayne owns her vulgar and "un-ladylike" approach: "It's just who I am... I'm just really proud and defensive of it, because I'm allowed to be this way. I don't have to be one way - no woman has to be one way any more, you know - it's 2020!
"We can do what we want and act how we want and choose how feminine or masculine we want to be."
Vayne Photo: Supplied
She freely admits she's had years during which she had to overcome "the dark realm", during which drugs and alcohol sometimes appeared to be coping mechanisms; "no one's perfect."
"I stripped for almost two years. I started when I was 18. I don't really see stripping as a bad thing, I've never seen it as a taboo thing even, it's a job. I did it because I knew I'd be good at it.
"But I can say that the type of people I was around introduced a lot of bad behaviour, bad energy."
She started after seeing women of colour who were strippers and strong expressive characters on the screen.
"It was a documentary that I watched about a strip club called Magic City in America, it's like the most famous strip club in the world. And a lot of the rap music that we listen to now, people would play their songs in those clubs, and that's how they rappers got discovered.
"And obviously rappers come with beautiful black women that their bodies are amazing, and I just sort of fell in love with the idea of being a stripper and [the idea] dancing for money and being hot is fun."
She says she played local producers beats and "all sorts", to get away from the "Now That's What I Call Music"-type hits in her first club.
Then in 2017, she started to become aware of the music New Zealand rappers were making.
"That ignited something inside of me. I didn't know there was a scene for music in Auckland, and after that I just packed my bags and moved to Auckland.
"[Before that] I didn't think anything like this was possible in New Zealand, I grew up watching music and artists in America, thinking 'it's a whole other world'. When I discovered SWIDT - No More Parties, and JessB, I thought 'yeah I can do this'.
An avid gamer, Vayne borrowed her name from a character in the computer game League of Legends. Also known in the game as The Night Hunter, the intimidating character is deadly and relentless, which suits Vayne perfectly.
"Vayne [in the game is] just a dope champion, she's got a crossbow, she's just a badass ... when you say it out loud you feel powerful," she says.
The name change from Gutter Girl felt like a natural step, moving on from a past alter ego more connected to who she was back then.
"I still go by Gutter Girl now - people still know me as Gutter Girl, but back when I was Gutter Girl what happened in my life during those times was really the building blocks to who I am as an artist now; Vayne.
"So now in my debut EP it's just important that I shout that version of myself out."
Vayne says she's still pinching herself at her at the ride, and the steps she's taken.
"Most of the time... I just try to focus on making the music, but yeah, it is crazy."
Vayne was signed to Sony by New Zealand DJ and producer P-Money. She says the style of her EP is modern- day rap, hip hop, and she sometimes gets labelled mumble rap.
"There's a song about lust, there's a song about heartbreak, there's a song about mental health, there's a song about having fun and a song about making it.
"The idea behind making it is usually to do with things like money and materialistic things. But my idea of making it is being able to look after my siblings, being able to recognise what holds true value in life, and things like family, friendships, helping other people and being able to have gratitude and just being content with everything around you."
And where does she want to go next on her journey?
She says: "I dream of curating amazing shows."
