Rapper Hans. On the Move That Made Him Finally Feel He Fit In

This article is presented in partnership with Foot Locker and Nike

For the next instalment in our series exploring the collision between kings of street culture in New Zealand and the inspiration behind the latest drop of the Foot Locker-exclusive Air Max Plus ‘Before and After The Bite Collection’ by Nike, we spent a day with Rapper Hans.

Long before he started writing rhymes, releasing killer music videos and making a name for himself as one of New Zealand hip-hop’s rising stars, Hans. always felt a little out of place. As a young Asian kid growing up in Kerikeri, the quiet town three hours north of Auckland, there was no one else like him around. Back then, he hated attention or the thought of standing out. “I always wanted to think of myself as just like everyone else,” says the 21-year-old now. “I always felt as though I wanted to just fit in.”

Hans. was born nearby in another small town called Kawakawa—“pretty sure I'm the only Asian born north of Auckland,” he jokes—and ever since he felt like he was somehow caught between two cultures. He had what he calls a typically Kiwi upbringing: he’d mess around in school, play football on Saturdays and hang out with mates. But at home his mum and dad, who had made the move from Korea to New Zealand, kept to tradition.

The contrast left him confused and unsure of where he fit in. He’d do things like stare in the mirror and wonder why he didn’t look like any of his friends, then later question if he was Korean enough when he wasn’t fluent in the language. One day he asked his mum not to pack Korean food for him to take to school because he didn’t want all eyes to be on him come lunchtime.

“I'd kind of made myself this ‘either/or’ mindstate over time and it really made me question which of the two [Korean or Kiwi] I fit into. It never crossed my mind that I could be both, and that was the biggest issue for me. I really felt as though I didn't fully belong in either and that really sucked.”

As he got older, that feeling of not belonging kept playing on his mind, and he started to question his identity even more. Then, when he was 15, his family made the move to Auckland, and that’s where everything began to change. Meeting people who had experienced something similar was the turning point he needed. “There's a lot of Asian people,” he laughs. “I had never seen so many in my life until I moved here.” His new Korean friends reminded him of himself and he began learning more about his heritage, including the struggles his family had gone through migrating to New Zealand. Slowly he realised that there was no need to be constrained by cultural boundaries.

“Before moving, it was kind of like a binary where I felt like I had to fit in one or the other. But moving to Auckland made me figure out that you can be proud of both aspects. For me, I became more proud of being Korean. Now I rep it pretty hard. I'm proud as fuck about it.”

Shifting to New Zealand's largest city was a turning point for Hans. both for his own sense of identity, and his music.

Around the same time as the move, he started getting into rap music, first with ‘90s classics from the likes of 2Pac, Nas and The Notorious B.I.G. and later local artists like Home Brew and Raiza Biza. Then he came across Dumbfoundead, a Korean-American rapper who started making noise when videos of him battle rapping went viral on YouTube. “Seeing him was kind of amazing to me, cause there was this dude, not great at Korean, rapping in English, and repping Korea heavy. I saw myself in him a lot and having this idol really helped show me I should be proud of my heritage.”

Hans.’ own music moves between two extremes, from the downbeat lo-fi sound of ‘Froyo’ to the feel-good funk of songs like ‘Go’, from his just-released Lagoon EP with Auckland producer swrly. And these days, he’s not afraid to rep where he comes from. The music video for ‘Better’ was filmed at some of his favourite spots around Auckland, including a Korean BBQ restaurant and a local Korean supermarket. Listen closely to his songs and you’ll hear a sprinkle of Korean words here and there too. “Likewise, I'll chuck Korean ice creams into my videos because I literally grew up eating those ice creams and rotting my teeth out. I feel like it all will, at the end of the day, give the person listening a better idea of who I am,” he says.

“I'm not too bothered if I make lots of money, or if I get a VNZMA. That shit means nothing to me. But if I could play big crowds and have a decent amount of people that really enjoy my music and look forward to me dropping something, that would be all I ask for.”

Nike Air Max Plus 'Before and After The Bite’ Collection will be available exclusively at Foot Locker from March 29 .