For the members of SWIDT, their debut track represented a new platform allowing them to comment on their own experiences with mental health, masculinity and authenticity from the Auckland suburb of Onehunga — otherwise known as the ‘312’.

Before becoming SWIDT — INF, SPYCC, Jamal, Smoke and Boomer Tha God grew up together through the late-1990s and early-2000s in Onehunga where they were within walking distance of each other’s houses.

Jamal says that the five “were just a bunch of friends making music at home in our bedrooms [and] in our lounges” when they decided to have a crack at a project together in 2014.

With each of the five group members ‘bringing something to the table’, that moment marked the beginning for SWIDT - which stands for ‘See What I Did There?’

Working on their music for several years, the group’s debut album in 2016 featured a taste of SWIDT’s loyalty to their home turf. ‘312’, one of SWIDT’s first tracks, was a tribute to the trials and tribulations they experienced while they lived and grew up in Onehunga.

The track’s name comes from the bus line which ran between Auckland’s city centre and the Onehunga town centre. While discontinued today, the line was and remains heavily associated with Onehunga itself.

“The memories and experiences keep it alive, but living there now it’s not the same experience,” says SPYCC.

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