In a tiny Auckland bedroom, 9lives is building soundscapes that feel like a punch to the chest: frenzied, distorted and delightfully unhinged. The 20-year-old producer – real name Maxwell Warren Jardine – has quietly become one of the most exciting underground names in the online rap renaissance with his signature blend of blown-out 808s, eerie melodies and skittish atmospherics.
You’ll likely have heard 9lives’ work as a go-to producer for some of modern rap’s most exciting names, including Bktherula, Ty Dolla $ign, Lancey Foux, Skaiiwater and more. ‘I Love You Hoe’, the 2023 track he produced for fellow dark trap leader Odetari, hit the Top Three on the Billboard Dance chart, while the high-octane, glitched-out ‘Go (Xtayalive 2)’ with friend and former NME Cover star Kanii made its way to Fortnite last year following a TikTok dance trend that spread like wildfire. “I was like, bro… what?!” 9lives laughs, recalling his disbelief. “I was playing it growing up – now my sound is in the game.”
A true product of Gen Z’s polymathic ways, 9lives is already onto his next mission: he doesn’t want to be just a producer, but a digital world-builder and fearless experimentalist. In 2025 alone, he’s dropped three singles that continue that quest – the frenetic ‘Up Freestyle’ with Odetari, the dreamy ‘Die For Someone’ with Adore, and just last week, ‘BBGirlGoSlow’, which he co-produced for Bktherula and Ty Dolla $ign. “The most interesting and exciting thing is bringing two worlds together and seeing what happens,” 9lives says. “It’s like science: people have discovered so much from combining two chemicals, but what can you do with music?”
Influenced by early Denzel Curry, JPEGMAFIA, Crystal Castles and Grimes, he’s now part of a tight-knit scene of boundary-pushing producers blurring the lines between genres – and between online fandom and real-world success. 9lives isn’t just watching the internet evolve – he’s soundtracking it in real time.
How did you become this super producer creating this niche lane of dark trap?
“I took a music production course and assignment and started making 8-bar and 16-bar loops more and more at home and on the way to school. That was the transition point of me playing drums to just going fully digital and into the computer world. I’ve always been a gamer as a kid growing up, so I’ve always been attracted to the online world and computers and technology – that’s where the electronic and internet side of my music taste and sound comes from.”
Who influenced your dark trap and sigilkore sound?
“Denzel Curry and [the underground collective] the Raider Klan: ‘Ultimate’ was the biggest song of 2016 and 2017, so it’s in my subconscious already. Also, XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD and Lil Uzi Vert and whatnot. I started really listening to hip-hop and rap during that era, and back then, people were just having fun with music and doing what they wanted. It wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it was original.
“My music is kind of like a diary. My Spotify is just moments in time and how I was feeling. Lately, I’ve been pulling from video game-y influences and a bit of pop, too. I’m just having fun and experimenting. Most of my earlier stuff was dark, trappy. But I’ve grown musically, and I always find myself returning to that dreamy, mystical, melancholic sound. That’s my favourite sound out of everything I make.”
‘Xtayalive’ really put you on the map – what was it like to see the song chart and the viral TikTok dance trend around it make it to Fortnite?
“It’s hard to wrap my head around it because at the time, I was in my dorm in university by myself chilling, and then all the stuff started happening out of nowhere. I was like, ‘Oh shit, how do I deal with this?’ Obviously, it’s a massive blessing to see people appreciate my stuff so much and also interpret my music in their own way.
“But my focus is on making sure the music is what I want it to be because, in the end, that’s what people remember. Not a TikTok from two years ago, but the song in their playlist.”
Your most recent singles sound more fun and electronic – what’s inspiring the new sound you have?
“[With ‘BBGirlGoSlow’] I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in the past couple years – especially in hip-hop and trap production – everything’s been super dark. [My new stuff] is more dreamy and happy. That’s where those beats came from – a place of being sick and tired of the repetitive, dark trap sound and wanting to switch things up.”
“[Whereas, with ‘Die For Someone’] I had an experience with this nostalgia thing where I was like, ‘Oh, what did I used to listen to when I was like a kid?’ Then I jumped to a lot of EDM, a lot of trancey music, then hip-hop and R&B. I’d say that was an experimental song for me at the time, but it came out of what I was listening to at that point.”
“I want to create something that people can relate to and easily become a part of”
Why do you prefer electronic music more nowadays?
“It’s just a really accessible genre. Even if someone doesn’t deep dive into music, dance music is just easy to move to [and] that’s what makes a song memorable: if it gets you doing more than just listening. I just love working in different pockets and different niches of the scene. Stuff is moving so quickly, everything is being innovated on.
Gen Z loves electronic music…
“I was thinking about this the other day – everyone’s doing electronic tracks now. I think it’s because it was a big part of our childhoods. During that 2014-2016 MTV era, EDM had a legendary run. Even before that, Spinnin’ Records stuff was used in YouTuber intros and outros. It was always there in the background and, now as creators, we’re circling back to it because it’s familiar enough to work with, but not so nostalgic that it feels stuck in the past.”
But nostalgia is in, especially sampling. Why don’t you rely on that as much?
“Nostalgia is cool, but it only lasts for a moment. Then you remember, ‘Oh yeah, that was 10 years ago. I should probably move on.’ You can’t just rip something from the past and expect it to feel new. I’m more in the mindset of trying to make what people will be sampling in 10 or 15 years.”
In the global music world, New Zealand hasn’t always had the spotlight – especially in rap…
“Yeah, I think so. In the rap scene, there’s next to nothing. I probably know most of the rappers in Auckland, which is crazy to say. Our culture is really influenced by ’90s hip-hop and R&B, but when it comes to pushing something fresh or new, it’s a very small community. It’s a very DIY, tight-knit vibe.
“I skipped a crucial step [because I blew up online]. I’ve had a backwards effect where people from New Zealand are only just starting to discover me now because of the stuff I put out with international artists, which is kind of funny.”
What are you working towards next?
“I’m definitely working towards an executive-produced album-type of project. Think of DJ Khaled and Metro Boomin and they pull artists from different worlds and scenes and put it into their own spin on it.
“Metro Boomin’s done a lot more than just producing; he’s done movie scores, soundtracks for different things. That’s what I want to do – obviously in my older years because I’m only 20 – but doing video game soundtracks, TV commercial music and stuff is a fun side project to do. You’re producing, but you’re not really producing for someone in mind. It’s almost like you’re creating a world.”
What is the world that you hope to build?
“Ideally, it’s not just about music and how it sounds. It’s about the culture, the fan base, the fashion, and the influence behind it. I want to create something that people can relate to and easily become a part of. There are a lot of scenes out there that are very exclusive – you have to have a certain type of swag or aesthetic to be accepted. I want to make it a cool, accessible, fun place where people can vibe, have fun, and listen to music. For me, the most important part is making it more than just music.”
9lives’ ‘BBGirlGoSlow’ with Bktherula and Ty Dolla $ign is out now via Warner Records