Mainard Larkin (better known by their stage names Randa and Larz Randa) is a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and recording artist. Randa is best known for their song "Rangers", which is used on a TV health promotion ad in New Zealand called "Go the distance". The video was a marketing campaign that aimed to contribute to changing New Zealanders alcohol consumption behaviour from the current norm of high-risk drinking to one of moderation. One of biggest moments of Randa's career was performing at the Auckland Big Day Out 2014. Randa identifies as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

and

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typicall ...

Air New Zealand

In 2018, Randa was featured on an

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

safety video alongside

Julian Dennison Julian Bailey Dennison (born 26 October 2002) is a New Zealand actor. He debuted in the 2013 film ''Shopping'', for which he won the English Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is known for his roles as Ricky Baker in '' Hunt ...

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh' ...

and Theia. In the video, the New Zealand musicians were rapping and singing to a song they created called "It's Kiwi Safety". The music adapts two songs,

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history o ...

's It's Tricky and In the Neighbourhood by Sisters Underground. The video took nine days to record, shooting all across New Zealand. It is the 18th of Air New Zealand's safety videos, which started in 2009. The video was dumped by Air New Zealand after only three months due to public criticism.

Personal life

Randa was educated at Carmel College, Auckland, for their high school years. Randa started making music while living briefly in Sydney, Australia, in 2011. Randa studied at MAINZ which is a program part of

Tai Poutini Polytechnic Tai Poutini Polytechnic (TPP) provides tertiary education aimed to meet the needs of West Coast students and businesses. TPP's West Coast programmes include, among others, tourism and hospitality training across the retail and service sector, o ...

Nominations and awards

* 2013 RIANZ New Zealand Music Awards – Best Music Video - Frankenstein (Nominated) * 2014 RIANZ New Zealand Music Awards – Critics’ Choice prize (Winner) * 2019 RIANZ New Zealand Music Awards – Best Music Video - Rock Bottom (Winner)

Discography

EPs

Single

Featured artist

Music videos

References

{{Authority control Musicians from Auckland Living people 1993 births Transgender musicians New Zealand LGBT musicians New Zealand transgender people New Zealand non-binary people LGBT rappers People educated at Carmel College, Auckland Transgender non-binary people