Joshua Christian Nanai (born 4 November 2002), better known as Jawsh 685, is a New Zealand beat maker and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. While a student at

Manurewa High School Manurewa High School is a secondary school in Manurewa, South Auckland, New Zealand. It is a large multi-cultural school, with an enrolment of over 2,300 students. History Manurewa High School was opened on 2 February 1960. Prior to this, stude ...

, in South Auckland, New Zealand, he made his breakthrough with the 2020

siren jam Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Sir ...

single "

Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)", originally known as "Savage Love", is a song by New Zealand music producer Jawsh 685 and American singer Jason Derulo. The song was officially released on 11 June 2020, following the resolution of sample c ...

" in collaboration with American R&B singer

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...

made a remix to the song which reached number one in over 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Early life and career

Nanai was born and raised in

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

, and currently lives in

Manurewa Manurewa is a suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located south of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of the Auckland City Centre. It is home to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which receives over a million visitors a year. Manurewa h ...

. He is of mixed

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

descent: half- Samoan and half-

Cook Islander Cook Islanders are residents of the Cook Islands, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Cook Islands Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Cook Islands, although the Cook Islands is currentl ...

. The "685" in his stage name refers to the

calling code Telephone country codes are telephone number prefixes for reaching subscribers in foreign countries or areas by international direct dialing (IDD). Country codes are defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in ITU-T standard ...

for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. He became the first Pasifika and the third New Zealander ever to top the UK Singles Chart.

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2002 births Living people People educated at Manurewa High School 21st-century New Zealand musicians Musicians from Auckland New Zealand people of Cook Island descent New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand record producers Child pop musicians