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Young Kiwi rapper has released debut track with Snoop Dogg

• The Kiwi rapper set to break top charts with highly anticipated Snoop Dogg collaboration on latest track hitting airwaves on Friday 1 March
• Due to be the biggest record the artist has released to date
• Hip-hop legend and rap god Snoop Dogg feature on Francis’ single titled ‘Lifestyle’
• Francis, who describes his musical sound as “diverse”, has big plans on the horizon

A young Kiwi rapper hailing from Napier has now released his first track in collaboration with international sensation Snoop Dogg, Lifestyle, this Friday 1 March.

Francis, who says his biggest inspirations are Jimi Hendrix, Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre, Men at Work, Boogie, Jay Rock, Eminem and of course Snoop, wants his music to inspire the youth of New Zealand and further afield.

“I don’t care about awards or anything like that. If I can change the path of someone going down a negative path, then we’ve all won,” says Francis.

Francis first met Snoop through a Los Angeles producer KJ Conteh, who made a call to Snoop saying the pair should meet, and the rest is history.

“He’s a super humble, super cool dude in real life, definitely one of the most inspiring guys I’ve ever met and worked with,” he says.

“But I just view everyone as equal now. I used to get nervous when I first came into the scene but people are just people – to me it doesn’t matter if you’re a famous musician or a labourer, we all work hard. In my eyes no one is higher or better than any other person, we’re all just different,” says Francis.

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Growing up in Napier influenced Francis’ music as the people who surrounded him during his youth are all “down to Earth and straight up”, which helped him shape his musical identity, he says. And while he loves LA, he thinks he’ll always stick to his roots.

Of Ngāti Kahungungu descent – Francis is proud of his Māori heritage.

“I never really thought about it until recently of how I should embrace it & inspire other artist's to use their heritage of any culture & be proud of it. It really comes down to also not being afraid to be proud of what you believe in with anything in life not only culture or heritage, stand up & strive for what you believe in. Unless its negative then sit down.”

“I’m always going to LA and spend a lot of time there, but I love New Zealand so much it’s hard to leave. We really do live in the best country in the world.”

Francis, who describes his musical sound as “diverse”, has big plans on the horizon, including a new album with a “bunch of dope artists.”

© Scoop Media

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