For Rotorua-born music producer Sonny Bishop (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue), the release of Chris Brown’s 12th studio album, BROWN, was meant to be the pinnacle of a hard-earned career. Having already collaborated with heavy hitters like 2chainz and Hit-Boy, Bishop’s touch on the track “Nthn2tlkbout” cemented his arrival on the world stage. But the triumph is inextricably tied to an unimaginable heartbreak, marking the most defining and devastating week of his life.
The opportunity came in a whirlwind, a blur of industry pressure and creative urgency. “Cause I didn’t know it was Chris Brown at the time? And so I said, what’s the hurry? And he’s like, Chris Brown on the song. I need you to do it now,” Bishop says. “Shot home and done it. I just added some like talkbox stuff. That’s the thing with the tube. I added that in and then he played it for me and mum. Me and my lady and we were just buzzing out,” he says.
That shared moment with his mother, Susan Huhana Bishop – known affectionately as Nanny Lou – was the true prize. Their bond was rooted in a deep, shared aroha for the craft, even across generations.
Bishop remembers how she actively engaged with his world, even when the sounds were unfamiliar. “She’d always tried to keep up to date with Drake, Kendrick Lamar and all of that. And I thought I was so cute because you know she’s elderly,” he says. “She always tries to keep up to date with all the new stuff because that’s my world is the music production, so she always tries to listen to the beats and yeah, just to try to understand my world and I thought that was, you know, adorable.”
However, just as the album hit the world last week, tragedy struck. Nanny Lou passed away, turning a career-defining milestone into a moment of profound mourning. For Bishop, the intersection of the two events is still difficult to reconcile. “She passed away just hours before the Chris Brown release. The timing of it all was just out of it. You know, my biggest achievement and my biggest loss happened at the same time,” he says.
Despite the weight of his grief, Bishop remains focused on the path his mother helped pave. He finds purpose in the ambition they nurtured together, fueled by the desire to push his career further. “She would want me to go. So, no hesitation at all. I want to go over there and I want to be the first Māori to win a Grammy.”