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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Eva Corlett in Wellington

Meet Fat Papi, the little-known NZ rapper catapulted to Billboard 100 fame

United States Kurdish Australia New Zealand TikTok
Rapper Fat Papi, bearded and in glasses, wears a patterned scarf over a white shirt outdoors
New Zealand rapper Fat Papi shot to fame after an influencer used his music as backing to a video about haircut. Photograph: Ahmed Gaber/The Guardian

Two months ago, Baban Hussain, a 22-year-old Kurdish New Zealander, was working from a self-run studio in Auckland, putting out music to a few thousand followers as little-known rapper Fat Papi.

Then, as modern fairytales go, he made a viral hit that has amassed over 7.5bn views across YouTube, gained him nearly 10m new monthly listeners on Spotify, and catapulted him on to global charts – including the US Billboard Hot 100.

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