A top member of Australia’s most successful drill rap group, OneFour, has dramatically turned his back on the crew after months behind bars over a wild brawl.
Rekindle Tautalaga, 23, the one-time ‘hype man’ for the rap group, was on Friday spared a further prison sentence over a brutal melee outside a western Sydney pub in June last year.
The relevations that Tautalaga, known as ‘Marlay Tee’, had left the rap group behind come as OneFour hits high rotation on radio station Triple J and announced an international collaboration with New York rapper A$ap Ferg.
But Tautalaga appeared in front of the New South Wales District Court this week over far more pedestrian issues.
The court heard the young man was sitting at a Mount Druitt pub watching the footy with members of the ‘Greater West Brotherhood’ gang last year when the hotel was stormed by members of a rival Inner West group.
OneFour boys: Rekindle Tautalaga (right) with OneFour frontman ‘Lekks’ – who is famous for covering his face
The OneFour crew including ‘hype man’ Rekindle Tautalaga (back row) hugging Pio ‘YP’ Misa, who is also behind bars. Lekks is in front row with facial coverings. Rapper J-Emz, who is not accused of anything, is in white jumper
Tautalaga was handed a community corrections order for two years and banned from drinking or taking drugs over that period
Young and dumb
How Rekindle Tautalaga described himself in a letter to the sentencing judge
Fifteen to 20 people were caught up in the massive brawl that followed, which involved golf clubs and pool cues allegedly being used as weapons.
OneFour frontman Salec Sua was accidentally hit by a car during the battle and at least one rival gangster was stabbed.
The incident was caught on the pub’s security cameras and Tautalaga was charged with affray and the theft of two pool cues from the hotel.
FROM LEKKS TO MARLAYTEE: WHO’S WHO IN ‘ONEFOUR’
OneFour rap crew members ‘Lekks’, ‘YP’ and ‘Celly’ have been jailed over a violent brawl involving the use of a hammer and a chair leg at a western Sydney pub on a separate occasion
‘Lekks’ – Salec Sua was one of the front men of OneFour but was jailed for four-and-a-half years over a brutal pub brawl at Rooty Hill’s Carousel Inn late at night in June 2018.
He had been drinking heavily when he instigated the attack on two men, a court heard previously.
At Lekks’ sentencing, Judge James Bennett said it was ‘tragic’ what had unfolded and that the rapper had ‘great potential’.
Lekks is best known for covering his face in all promotional photos – something that has come in handy for the rap crew when it comes to replacing him on stage.
Lekks is awaiting sentencing for a separate affray and appeared in court briefly on Friday.
‘Celly’ – Dahcell Ramos, an on-again, off-again member of the rap group, was jailed for a decade over the same violent evening. He viciously struck a pub patron with a hammer and then stomped on his head.
‘YP’ – Pio Misa assaulted a man with a chair leg on the same evening and is serving four years behind bars
‘Marlaytee’ – Rekindle Tautalaga has been described as the ‘hype man’ for OneFour and has been tagged in official rap crew photos.
However, he has been behind bars since June last year awaiting sentencing on the shisha cafe brawl.
(Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting other members of the main OneFour rap crew quartet, such as J-Emz or Spenny, of involvement in criminal behaviour).
Tautalaga spent four months in custody and has recently been under house arrest conditions so strict he can only go outside with his mother, his lawyer said.
The young man was supported his two sisters, mum, and a large family contingent as the court heard about his battles with ice addiction and deep Christian faith.
When Judge Stephen Hanley asked his lawyer about Tautalaga’s association with the OneFour rappers, Elias Tabchouri said: ‘He’s no longer associated with them.
‘He no longer wants to associate with them. He’s extricated from that group’.
Tautalaga has featured in the rappers’ promotional photographs and has been described as their ‘hype man’.
The court heard Tautalaga had been bullied by friends and family about being overweight as a young man – which may have led him to be attracted to joining the ‘greater western Sydney’ gang – and had become an ice addict.
But the court heard he has since shaken off his addiction and turned his life around.
Mr Tabchouri said that may not have happened ‘if he had not been to jail’.
He said his client had shown ‘a lot of insight’ since he was locked up
‘This is a good kid – who has really shown before this sentence he’s a good kid – who starts behaving in a manner that’s not him,’ Mr Tabchouri said.
‘He stops the drugs, he’s done all the right things’.
Crown Prosecutor Mitchell Paish told the court that Tautalaga’s group had not sought out the confrontation – but had been prepared for it.
The inner west group arrived at the Village Hotel hotel in a convoy of cars late in the evening but were violently driven off by Tautalaga’s group.
‘I think the ambushers got ambushed,’ Mr Paish told the sentencing hearing.
In a letter to the court, Tautalaga described himself simply as ‘young and dumb’.
Judge Hanley said that summed it up, noting he had no criminal history and that his history of being bullied may explain why he associated himself with the ‘Greater West’ gang.
Tautalaga was convicted of larceny and affray and sentenced to a two year community corrections order.
The order bans him from taking drugs, drinking or associating with the western Sydney gang.
His family members hugged, clearly relieved, following the handing down of the sentence.
Walked free: Rekindle Tautalaga was spared further jail time over the pub brawl … meanwhile, musclebound rival gang member Mal Seve (right) was locked up over the same brawl
Strength-to-strength: The viral ‘drill’ music group from Mount Druitt, OneFour, is riding high despite frontmen Lekks (left) and YP (second from left) being locked up over a separate pub bashing in 2018. Stars Spenny (third) and J-Emz, were not involved in any wrongdoing
Despite Tautalaga’s departure and the jailing of several major performers, OneFour are still going strong and have recently teamed up with New York rapper A$AP Ferg with the hit ‘Say It Again’
The talented group were founded by a group of friends from Mount Druitt, a notoriously crime-ridden suburb in the city’s far west.
‘OneFour’ itself has become both a name used by the greater western Sydney ‘brotherhood’ gang and the rap crew.
A NSW Police spokeswoman has previously insisted the two groups are distinct.
However, courts have heard there is a clear crossover between them.
Top rap group frontmen Lekks, Celly and ‘YP’ are all behind bars for a brutal hotel brawl in Rooty Hill in 2018.
Tautalaga has featured in several promotional posts for the drill music group and before he was bailed last year fans sometimes posted #3MarleyTee (or ‘free’ and his nickname).
An offender from the rival gang that Tautalaga brawled with, musclebound Mal Seve, was jailed on Friday over the same brawl.
The court heard Seve had a history of violence and the spectacular fight had resulted in his fifth affray charge.
OneFour rappers also in jail: Pio ‘YP’ Misa (left) and Dahcell ‘Celly’ Ramos (right) viciously assaulted two men at the Carousel Inn in Rooty Hill the year before and are serving jail time