Savage
New Zealand’s most successful rapper and Warriors superfan turned musical mascot, Demetrius Savelio, better known as Savage, sits down with Metropol editor Nina Tucker ahead of headlining Christchurch’s biggest Tuesday at Addington Raceway’s Cup Day this 10 November.
“Wherever God leads, I’ll follow.” Hip hop hero Savage features names like Pitbull and Akon on his discography, is the first rapper from Aotearoa with a US platinum single, and has been entertaining crowds for 25 years, but the legendary artist is nothing but humble.
“It was tough growing up, and all we had was our dreams.” Savage, who grew up in a broken South Auckland home and faced severe hardship and homelessness, was a teenager when he decided to defy the odds. “You have poor, and then you have piss poor, which was basically how we grew up. Back in the day, me and my brother each opened the pantry like 1000 times thinking it was going to change. But all that was there was just herbs and spices and occasionally a box of Jell-O,” Savage says. “We laugh about it now because we’ve grown into becoming the fathers we never had. I’m always reminded of why I started this in the first place.”
Back then, Savage didn’t know whether he would make it. What he had was his faith. “I decided as a teenager that I was just going to go for it and try to make a career out of it. I’ve just been blessed enough to be able to do so,” he says. Even during his debut year, when back-to-back number one records like Moonshine and Swing received nomination upon nomination but no win, Savage trusted God’s plan. “I’ve had a strong faith with the man upstairs, and I never grew up around church, and to this day I still don’t really go to church, but I’ve always believed in having a one-on-one relationship, with your prayers, with the man upstairs.”
Savage used each nomination as fuel, (“okay, so you guys don’t think I’m worthy. I’m going to use that as a chip on my shoulder,”) until the first win came his way. It was an international achievement award – one based on numbers and statistics not votes or opinions. His mindset became his superpower, and now he hopes to create platforms for emerging artists to rise above the industry’s unfair rejection. “It’s to inspire and guide the next generation of musicians from New Zealand. I just feel that I’m here to build a bridge or to create pathways for the next artist,” Savage says.
Reinventing himself
Like he did as a teen, and like he hopes to encourage in the next generation, Savage is not afraid of reinvention. In 2025, that meant letting his passion for the New Zealand Warriors (also known as the Wahs) morph into something more – a fan track, Warrior Nation, and becoming something of a cultural figurehead for the New Zealand rugby league team.
“It all started when the Wahs first came into the comp in ‘95.
I would have been about 14. I happened to be doing work experience at Mad Butcher, and they were one of the main [Warriors] sponsors so all the staff used to get free tickets. I was lucky enough to get tickets that way, and I started my support back then,” Savage says. Fast-forward to 2004, he played the Warriors halftime show in Hamilton with his hip-hop group Deceptikonz.
“But it wasn’t until after Freaks came out in 2015 and I just happened to be watching one of the games, and I heard them playing the song as the boys ran out and I just remember turning it all the way up, thinking, ‘Are they running out to my song?’ That was a big fan moment for me.”
When Covid-19 hit and the world shut down, Savage’s schedule cleared up. “I was fortunate enough to still be living off publishing and royalites, but during that time, all we had was footy. So I locked in on every game.” He started noticing a pattern. “2020 and 2021 weren’t our best years. During Covid, the boys had to leave their families to play in Australia. “I started chiming in on the negative comments, people were tearing our boys down, because I know what it’s like to get comments on YouTube and social media, and I know how it can affect certain people.”
Before long, Savage had turned their winning chant into the track Warrior Nation, a record that now has over 180,000 streams. As for whether 2027 is their year, Savage says “as long as we’ve got Webby [coach Andrew Webster], I’m not worried.”
Between playing on planes and at halftime shows, (yes, Savage performed live at 30,000 feet on an Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch in May 2026 ahead of One New Zealand Stadium’s first concert, where he played again to a crowd of 37,000), who handles the business and paperwork?
“From an outsider’s point of view looking into the music industry, it’s always been that the artist is to focus on the music, and they have a manager to focus on the business,” Savage says. “But you grow as an artist, and the success and money that comes with it. And when you’re not taking the initiative to keep an eye on the money, you’re leaving it in the hands of another person who may or may not have your best interest at heart. Unfortunately for me, I’ve had to learn a lesson in that.
“But I wasn’t going to be a typical artist where I just wanted to blame this person, blame that person. At the end of the day, the name and the brand is always going to be me. I had to tell myself, ‘man, that’s your fault. You should have taken initiative to overlook everything.’”
Savage didn’t finish any music for a year after that. “I was determined to understand how this music industry works.”
It meant hours in meetings with his lawyer. “I would have all my contracts that I’ve ever signed in front of me, and then have him break down every single term in that contract as if I’m a five-year-old,” he says. “The most important thing I ever did was understand contracts and strategies.”
Fees and family first
Savage soon learnt how precious his time was, and that some opportunities weren’t worth it. “When I was touring the US, I would spend four months at a time there, and then I’ll be home for two weeks. I don’t want to move my family there because there’s no support there. I would always be on the road, so it made no sense. I did that for three years and it takes a toll on your family. I made a decision from that point that I would not make any business decision unless it benefitted my family,” he says.
“If it doesn’t benefit my family, then why am I doing it? My fees, it’s not based on what I think or what I’m worth, it’s based on the time I spend away from my family,” he says. “The sacrifices that I made earlier in my career, spending four months at a time away, I don’t want to put them through again. Everything became based on putting my family first.”
Family is what’s most important. “The best moments in my career and in my life is always with my wife and my kids,” Savage says. His success lets him treat his family, like trips to Las Vegas for the NRL grand opening. “Bigger than those accolades is creating moments where I get to stand back and watch my family receive the fruits from my labour.”
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QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS
The coolest artist you’ve ever collaborated with? Xzibit.
The artist you hope to collaborate with one day? Timbaland.
Do your kids like your music? They’re the harshest critics so I do rely on their honesty when I play new music. If they tell me to turn it down, then it’s not good. But if they tell me to play it again, then it’s good.
Your favourite Warriors player? Roger [Tuivasa-Sheck].
Do you start with bars or beat? Always with the beat.
What’s your favourite thing about playing to a Christchurch audience? Christchurch has the best audience. It’s always between them and Dunedin. They are the loudest. The most deafening crowd is always in the South Island.
What’s a dream Sunday in your life? Time with family, maybe a barbecue, a Wahs game. Sitting by the pool and just relaxing.
The best advice you could give a young aspiring rapper? Surround yourself with people that will be absolutely honest with you. Be okay with being told, “Oh, brother, it’s not good.” As long as there’s constructive criticism there, then take it. That’s probably the best thing that I’ve had with my career. I’ve always had people around that were truthful. Because it doesn’t matter how humble you think you are, the limelight and the attention can change anyone. So if my ego gets out of control I have people in my circle who have full permission to shut that down and put me in my place.
It’s only happened once, which is a good thing.
