A Netflix documentary about Australian drill rappers OneFour glossed over a brutal hammer attack on a pub that saw three of the five members jailed.
The group, from Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west, featured in the documentary entitled ONEFOUR: Against All Odds, which was released on October 26 and chronicles their rise to fame and their struggle to perform live shows.
OneFour got the glowing treatment in the film, where they were praised by hip-hop stars like Skepta and The Kid Laroi.
But while the film touched on how Salec ‘Lekks’ Sua, Pio ‘YP’ Misa and Dahcell ‘Celly’ Ramos were all jailed over a violent attack on two men in a Rooty Hill slot in July 2018, the film skipped about. severity of the attack.
YP had pulled a chair leg from under his clothing and punched one of the men three times, including twice in the head, while shocking footage showed Celly repeatedly hitting the victim with a hammer and stamping on him, rendering him unconscious .
Members of OneFour are pictured at the premiere of their Netflix documentary. (Spenny is seen on the left, Celly in the middle and J Emz is seen on the right)
Lekks was jailed for at least four and a half years, Celly – the hammer attacker – ten years and YP four years for their role in the bashing.
“I did what I thought was right at the time,” YP said in the documentary.
“It could have been very different, we could have gone and talked to them, but that was just the way we went about it, we didn’t know how to talk at the time.”
Although the documentary aired some of the CCTV footage of the brutal attack and mentioned that the members were imprisoned, the incident was quickly glossed over and the gruesome details of the bashing left out.
The film also failed to mention that Lekks, who never shows his face in public, was deported from Australia after serving his sentence due to his criminal record.
His visa was revoked in June 2020 and he was eventually deported to New Zealand last year after his non-parole period expired.
A year after the Rooty Hill brawl, Lekks was also jailed for his role in a brawl between rival gangs, the Inner West Brotherhood, and a street gang distinct from the rap group but also using the name OneFour, at The Village Hotel in Mount Druitt at a State of Origin evening in July 2019.
Lekks pleaded guilty to affray, with the court hearing the Inner West gang had caused the brawl.
YP was released from prison in December last year, while Celly was released in June.
But YP recently found himself back behind bars after pleading guilty to assault and property damage charges.
Last month, a court heard that YP attacked a man who allegedly made a disrespectful comment about a woman he knew while they were in a supermarket.
YP and the woman are said to have followed the man to his home, where they are then accused of assaulting the man and his partner and damaging some of her property.
YP was charged with affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damage to property. He pleaded guilty to the latter two charges.
The rapper will remain behind bars until his next court appearance next Thursday.
YP’s recent brush with the law was also absent from the film.
The documentary also mentioned a prison sentence for YP’s older brother and fellow OneFour rapper, Jerome “J Emz” Misa, but did not explain what it was for.
Misa was already behind bars when his bandmates were jailed over the Rooty Hill brawl.
Despite their criminal pasts, the rappers claimed in the documentary that they were wrongly targeted by the NSW Police Raptor Squad over the years.
Three OneFour members were jailed after a violent brawl at a Rooty Hill pub in 2018
In 2019, the group canceled their Australian tour after police pressured venues to host them due to security concerns.
‘Our entire national tour has now been cancelled. Our fans have never caused any problems during our concerts. Then why can’t you see us perform?’ OneFour wrote at the time.
‘Making and performing music is not a crime. And if they tell you to create a better future for yourself, why do they want to trap you in your past?’
Their only show that went ahead was in Auckland, but after the performance a major brawl started outside music venue The Powerstation.
In a video posted to YouTube shortly after the fight, which was also not included in the documentary, revelers could be seen waving their fists, ripping shirts and launching kicks during an expletive-laden skirmish.
One man was punched around and punched by two men before being trampled as he lay on the concrete.
In another scuffle, a woman knocked a man to the ground before being snatched by his hair, prompting security to intervene.
The group has been praised by hip-hop stars such as Skepta and The Kid Laroi and has more than 300,000 Instagram followers and YouTube subscribers.
Lekks, who never shows his face, was deported to New Zealand after serving a prison sentence
OneFour shares its name with a Mount Druitt youth gang, but members of the rap group say they are not gang members themselves and say their name comes from the year they were formed.
This is despite their songs containing lyrics referencing gang wars, drugs and violence in the postcode, with one of their first songs entitled Shanks and Shivs – slang for homemade or prison-made knives.
21 District gang member Tino Henry, 20, was killed in a wild brawl at Parramatta train station in 2018.
His gang had rivals in Mount Druitt, and OneFour later wrote lyrics that appeared to mock his death.
“Retribution is a must, it’s not a maybe, if or but… I have friends, I’m looking at 10, you saw yours put in a box… 21 what? But one has been hit, ha, I think that makes them twenty,” they sing in their song The Message.
The documentary features interviews with senior NSW police officers and in one clip an officer is heard saying in an audio recording: ‘I’m going to use everything in my power to make your life miserable until you stop doing what you’re doing’.
On the night the group was due to open for The Kid Laroi, their home was raided by the police of two of the group members, YP and brother J Emz, in an apparent attempt to prevent their performance from going ahead.
Police denied that the raid was intended to disrupt the show, and The Kid Laroi eventually smuggled the group in for another performance the next night.
Ny Breaking Australia has contacted producers Stranger Than Fiction and Entropico for comment.