One of the members of Kiwi RnB duo Adeaze has revealed he's feeling "triggered" by the release of Dawn Raid, saying the movie about Aotearoa's first hip hop label didn't accurately represent their story - a claim that director Oscar Kightley disputes.
Nainz Tupai wrote an emotional plea on the group's Instagram account, asking fans and followers to stop tagging Adeaze in social media posts about the documentary as he was "fighting a personal battle" with the film.
"Again, like years ago, I am left feeling so frustrated [and] angry...to have everyone share what a great movie it is and thank us for sharing our story - [it] is still NOT OUR WHOLE TRUTH," he wrote on Thursday, the same day the film hit cinemas nationwide.
Nainz explained that he and his brother Viiz had a rocky relationship with Dawn Raid Entertainment - who picked up the group around 1999 - and their decision to be involved with the film "wasn't easy". He added that seeing content online about the movie had "brought up so many memories that he wanted to stay buried".
"After being approached by Oscar [Kightley] to do this documentary, Viiz and I shared our whole truth, spent most of the day shooting, being interviewed, emotional and pouring our hearts out, only to be told by close family, our story of what happened to us during our time with Dawn Raid was not shared in its entirety," he wrote.
Naiz said that Viiz had "found it a bit easier to move on," but that he was "struggling again".
Meanwhile, Kightley told Newshub that he understood how difficult it was for Nainz to agree to be in the film, and that he "felt for him" as the release had "brought issues to the surface once again".
"One of the things I love about Nainz is that he'll always speak his truth," Kightley said in a statement.
"...But I need to be clear that as filmmakers we accurately reflected what he told us in his interview. Rather than talk through the media I'll just hit him up and catch up."
Kightley was recently dubbed "The Samoan Spike Lee" by Dawn Raid founders Brotha D and Andy Murnane, who founded the record label in 1999. Along with Adeaze, they represented Aaradhna, Savage, The Deceeptikonz, Mareko and more.
