Wellington-based producer, rapper and singer/songwriter Noé has grown his networks from his mum’s house in Wellington, New Zealand. He achieved this thanks to the internet.

 This NZ Music Month, he told Serum, having good people around is essential for getting through hard times.

“ One thing that I have that helps me is when people say my stuff is good, I say thank you. 

“I’m blessed with a very good support system around me.

“And whoever it is, if it’s just one person, I make sure to keep those people around, because they help your brain move.”

Having just performed at his first CubaDupa festival –  an iconic event on the Wellington social calendar – he said their music scene is in good hands with artists like Iris Little, Louisa Williamson, and Lila Junior Crichton.

After attending the APRA SongHubs workshop in April 2024, it proved to him that “you don’t have to move to Auckland to make it”, especially with the internet. 

“We have so many tools here to just make it big…a lot of the Taku stuff and the T-Pain stuff that happened, I just did that from my mum’s house.”

Featuring on tracks with international artists like Cabu and Young Franco, their song Sun Moon has over 12 million plays on Spotify. 

Choosing his artist name in 2017, he said it was inspired by the love he got from Brazil. At the time he was releasing “remixes of stuff, and for some reason they were going hard in Brazil…I just thought I’d do that to say thank you. Noé is Portuguese for Noah.”

Meeting Aotearoa R&B royalty, Aaradhna at the APRA songwriting programme, hosted by Ladi6, the two made their song Break which featured on his Cruel Change EP.

Noé said although it wasn’t “fun to make” due to a bout of bad health at the end of 2024, the next EP is inspired by his passion for gaming. 

“There’s a song on this new EP. I tried to make it sound like a game.” 

“I played it for a couple of people and they were like, did you make this sound like a game on purpose? 

 “I was like, yes, yes, I did, thank you..it’s cool because they recognize it [in the beats] because they’re gamers, and I’m like, yes, my people finally can understand me.”

Listen to the full interview below: