Sidney Diamond (born 7 July 1986), previously known by the stage name Young Sid, is a New Zealand rapper.
Biography
Sid Diamond was born in South Auckland, New Zealand and later moved to Manukau City, Auckland.[citation needed] He is of Cook Island and Māori descent, and was raised in the Manukau suburb of Ōtara.[1] Diamond's father, Vincent George, was the president of a gang called the Tribesmen,[2] and his mother, Victoria, was an alcoholic[2] who died of lung cancer in 2009.[3] His older brother, Karlos, who is currently imprisoned, was an aspiring rapper under the name Mr Sicc, and a member of an Ōtara gang called Bad Troublesome Ward.[2] At a young age, Diamond was arrested twice for fighting, and carried weapons such as a knife and an axe, but said in a 2009 interview that Karlos worked to prevent him from getting involved with gangs.[2]
Sid first became attracted to American hip hop after listening to Karlos' copy of the 1988 N.W.A single "Gangsta Gangsta."[4] He recorded his first song at the age of eleven, and was part of a short-lived group called The Murder Squad.[4][2]
Career
Diamond formed hip-hop trio Smashproof in 2005 with members Tyree and Deach, and they signed a contract with Move The Crowd Records (a subsidiary of Universal) during his first semester of university; he dropped out shortly thereafter in order to pursue his music career full-time.[2] His solo debut, The Truth, was released on Move The Crowd in 2007, and featured a guest appearance by Chamillionaire. He spent three weeks in New York recording the tracks,[5] many of which were produced in Croatia, France, and Auckland.[1] The album would then go on to debut at No. 27 in its lone week on the RIANZ top-40 album charts on 10 September,[6] and won Urban Album of the Year honors at the 2008 Māori Music Awards.[7] However, he came under controversy in February 2008 when he appeared in a music video for the track "Put Your Colourz On", which featured South Auckland street gang members.[8][2]
His first album with Smashproof, titled The Weekend, was released in March 2009. The featured single, "Brother," broke a 23-year-old record for the longest consecutive run at number one by a New Zealand-based act on the country's singles chart.[9] Sid was the opening act for Ice Cube's Straight Outta Compton Tour concert in Manukau City on 22 August 2007.[10]
In 2010, Diamond released his second album, What Doesn't Kill Me..., which charted for eight weeks and won him his second Urban Album of the Year at the Māori Music Awards.[11]