Smashproof—the long-term collaboration between rappers and childhood mates Sid Diamond, Deach and Tyree—started making mixtapes in 2005 while still teenagers growing up together on the mean streets of South Auckland. The trio didn't release an album until 2009's The Weekend, by which time all three members had produced noteworthy solo material. The lead track from that collective debut, “Brother”, a collaboration with fellow Auckland songstress Gin Wigmore, became a local phenomenon, spending a record 11 weeks at the top of the national charts. It would take another five years for the trio to produce a follow-up album, 2014's Forever, but even during their absences, Smashproof remains a name to be reckoned with in NZ hip-hop.