9lives and SXMPRA are very well known to Rolling Stone AU/NZ readers.
Shortly before performing an exhilarating set at Rolling Stone House at SXSW Sydney in 2024, 9lives was included in our Future of Music series in the same year, chosen as one of 25 ANZ artists we tipped for the very top.
Thanks to “COWBELL WARRIORS!”, his full-throttle collab with Ski Mask the Slump God, SXMPRA was one of the nominees for Best Single at the 2023 Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards.
When we put together our Best Australian & New Zealand Songs of the 21st Century So Far list last year, both 9lives and SXMPRA made the cut: the former for “I LOVE YOU HOE”, featuring Odetari, and the latter for “COWBELL WARRIOR!”
It turns out many more people out there are also big fans of these young Kiwi talents. Billions of you, in fact.
9lives and SXMPRA both recently celebrated passing 1 billion streams for their music, an astonishing achievement for any musician, let alone ones from Hawke’s Bay (9lives) and Wellington (SXMPRA). To put their achievement in perspective, 1 billion equates to around 200x the population of Aotearoa.
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1 billion streams sounds massive — IS massive — but it becomes less surprising when you look at their respective Spotify accounts. Just consider these insane figures:
9lives has 2.7M+ monthly listeners
“I LOVE YOU HOE” has 281M streams on its own
Over 10 9lives’ songs have been streamed 10M+ times
SXMPRA is on 2M monthly listeners
“COWBELL WARRIOR” has 243M+ streams, “COWBELL WARRIORS!” has 23M+ streams
At least 10 SXMPRA songs have crossed 5M+ streams
When Spotify AU & NZ unveiled its inaugural Aotearoa Music Global Impact list in 2024, which recognised the top 30 songs from Aotearoa artists with the biggest global impact on Spotify over the first half of 2023 outside of New Zealand, 9lives and SXMPRA made the cut alongside ‘bigger’ names like Lorde, L.A.B, and Stan Walker; 9lives and SXMPRA, in fact, accounted for 7 of the 30 songs on the list, a frankly ridiculous share.
We caught up with both 9lives and SXMPRA to celebrate reaching their latest landmark.
“It doesn’t feel real, to be honest,” 9lives, who also has 2x gold and 1x platinum records in the US to his name, told us. “My brain looked at 1 million streams as a way bigger achievement, but I think it’s because you can wrap your head around that number. I don’t think anyone can imagine what 1 billion can physically look like, so I guess that’s probably why it feels so surreal to me.”
SXMPRA (has one gold record in the US to his name, is likely to add to that count) said he was “grateful” that his music had “resonated with people enough to reach such a milestone.”
“Every milestone has been significant in its own way, but this one stands out because it overlooks my career as a whole and makes me look back on what I did to get to where I’m at,” the rapper added.
Image: SXMPRA Credit: Supplied
9lives and SXMPRA’s achievement should offer encouragement to other up-and-coming Aotearoa musicians, particularly during a time when local artists are struggling to be heard in Aotearoa.
Last year saw the New Zealand Music Commission launch a campaign, ‘Outplay the World’, to encourage Kiwis to stream their favourite Aotearoa acts as much as possible.
“All across the globe, people are listening to New Zealand’s music,” the campaign noted, which is evident in 9lives and SXMPRA’s streaming numbers.
Because even if a young artist’s home country isn’t digging their music (yet), they should remember that it’s never been easier to reach global ears — in the case of artists like 9lives and SXMPRA, the world really is listening.
“I’d say that if I can do it from my bedroom so can you!” SXMPRA (he’s represented in the US by 10K Projects and Kobalt) insisted. “We are lucky as artists to exist within a space where the quality of the gear you’re producing on doesn’t matter,” he said. “Everyone loves a bit of DIY, it adds so much character and authenticity to the art. Just keep consistently pushing your craft and investing back in to it.”
“It feels like we are constantly being overlooked as a musical country, but it’s been nice to see the growth and movement over the years,” 9lives said (he’s represented in the US by PULSE and Kobalt). “I’d just say to keep making music for yourself, and it’ll eventually reach its audience one day.”
The producer, who has major co-signs with Trippie Redd, the aforementioned Odetari, Rico Nasty, and many more, insisted the streaming landmark felt “more like an achievement for my friends and family. They helped and supported me immensely throughout my journey so it feels like a group achievement.”
Image: 9lives Credit: Supplied
Is reaching 1 billion streams a win for our country’s music scene? SXMPRA is conflicted. “I feel it is more of a win to me personally than it would be for NZ music as a whole — I’ve always been relatively under the radar in NZ. However, for those that know about it could certainly offer some hope that these milestones are reachable.”
9lives and SXMPRA are both on the roster at Higher Ground (SACHI, lilbubblegum), and the company’s director and founder Dan Woolston couldn’t be prouder of their achievement.
“Very few artists from New Zealand have crossed a billion streams, and what SXMPRA and 9lives represent is a new generation of globally minded artists coming out of this country,” he told us. “In previous generations the path was to build success locally first and then try to export the music internationally. This generation is doing the opposite, by building global audiences from the outset — connecting with online communities and niche scenes that exist far beyond our borders.”
Image: 9lives and the Higher Ground team Credit: Supplied
“Instead of being limited by the size of our domestic market, Higher Ground have always leaned into the reality that music now travels instantly. The internet has removed the traditional barriers of geography, and it means artists from New Zealand can compete on the same stage as anyone in the world. Hitting a billion streams shows just how powerful that shift has become.”
What next for these artists? Don’t expect 9lives or SXMPRA to slow down now that they’ve crossed the 1 billion streams mark.
“I feel that people start seeing music purely as a job, but I want to continue seeing it as a source of fun and freedom as well. I see the numbers more as a personal achievement to show that I’m growing and evolving as a musician,” as 9lives previously told us.
Follow 9lives on Spotify and Instagram. Follow SXMPRA on Spotify and Instagram.
