He made it big on TikTok with a beat he created in his bedroom on a worn-out laptop, but now South Auckland teenager Jawsh 685 is topping music charts around the world.
The 17-year-old New Zealand-born Samoan Cook Islander has become the third New Zealander, and the first Pasifika person ever, to go number one in the UK with his hit tune Savage Love - a collaboration with pop sensation Jason Derulo.
The Manurewa High School student created the beat for the song in July last year, back when had just a couple dozen followers on his YouTube channel.
Jawsh 685 described his new fame as "shocking" when he sat down with TVNZ1's Breakfast host John Campbell this morning.
"It doesn't hit until you actually see, like, a visual of it, like when you see the numbers go bigger. You're like, 'Oh damn,' but when you actually see people dancing to it in big groups it makes it hit harder in your head - or for me it does," he said.
"It's still shocking to just be a kid from South Auckland and all of a sudden, bang, you're collabing with one of the world's biggest artists. It's still hitting hard to me, still find it shocking."
While he's a bit of a star around his school for now - in the good books with his school principal, he says - Jawsh 685 is eying a career in producing more music for the world's biggest names in music.
Watch the full interview on how he rose to fame in the video above.
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