Diaz Grimm (Ngāwhā, Ngāpuhi) is a pioneer at the crossroads of music and technology. In his latest project he steps out as the world’s first indigenous avatar rapper, creating from the perspective of a musician standing with one foot deeply entrenched in the rich, ancient world of Māoritanga, and the other in a futuristic metaverse. His face and body are made of pixels, but his heart and soul were raised on by the ethos of Te Ao Māori.

Diaz worked on his single ‘Foreigners’ with Grammy award winning producer and songwriter Mike Elizondo (Prod. of Eminem’s ‘Real Slim Shady’, 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’ & The Games ‘How We Do’). ‘Foreigners’ debuted at #16 on the NZ singles charts – the only unsigned, self managed artist in the charts that week – and became the only Kiwi on the front page of the NZTop40.co.nz the week of release.

Diaz has opened for Mac Miller, Tyga, Twista, TNGHT, Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, Baauer and many more.

Diaz is currently the Web3 consultant for much of the NZ music industry, and is one of only two people selected to represent Aotearoa in Spotify’s 2022 Co-Pilot programme.

Now with his newest project, Māui and The Sin, Diaz looks toward a future where independent and indigenous artists have the autonomy to draw their own path.