Townsville rapper YNG Martyr speaks on music journey, drug abuse

Rapper YNG Martyr returned to his hometown over the weekend to support music star, Illy. Find out how a near-death experience and internet memes kickstarted his music career.

A Townsville rapper has opened up on his journey through drug abuse and depression as he returns to his local stage while on tour with ARIA award-winning artist, Illy.

Seaton Rogers, or most commonly known as YNG Martyr, returned to his hometown over the weekend as part of Illy’s Long Way Round regional tour.

Instead of standing up in front of a faceless crowd, this time he was surrounded by primary school friends, family members and long-term fans.

“You play all the shows and festivals in front of random people but just looking out tonight and seeing people I know, it was crazy,” YNG Martyr said.

“I was pacing up and down before I went on, I definitely felt more pressure.”

YNG Martyr performing.

Returning to Townsville after living in Canberra and Melbourne in recent years allowed him to reflect on his recent success and the struggles he overcame to get where he is today.

YNG Martyr began rapping as a 12-year-old in Call of Duty and after some positive feedback online he set a lifelong goal of making it big.

YNG Martyr performing at the Gold Coast.

After his stepdad was posted to Canberra as part of his career in the Defence Force, he was forced to leave his comfortable life in Townsville.

“When I moved there it was a real shock,” he said.

“It was motivation to be thrown out of my Townsville comfort zone.”

“Anytime I published music online the kids at school would be like ‘this guy is a f***ing loser.’”

@yngmartyr Bars of steel #ausrap#triplej#rap#rapper♬ original sound - yngmartyr

With attempts to fit in with the new crowd he began using drugs which he soon abused as he began to suffer from depression.

On a visit back to Townsville to see friends when he was 17, YNG Martyr took three tabs of acid unbeknown to him that they were a synthetic designer drug 25i-NBOMe which led him to overdose.

YNG Martyr in hospital after overdosing on synthetic acid 25i-NBOMe in Townsville

“I was running around the streets fully nude, I jumped off the roof of a house at one point” he said.

“I ran to the point where the muscle in my legs started to break down so the next day I was peeing out lumps of protein.”

“They didn’t know if I would make it, every time my heart beat I would shake the gurney.”

“It was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me but at the same time the best.”

He soon began a job as a website designer for a government agency but spent all his free time working on his music.

In 2019 himself and two friends created a rapping trio adopting the names YNG frisbee, YNG Xene and YNG Martyr.

YNG Martyr performing at the 2022 This That Festival.

They released the song Get There that today sits at 2.8m streams on Spotify and 131,000 views on YouTube.

“That’s when I completely decided that I needed to do this,” he said.

He then began using internet meme pages to promote his song Nike Ticks by paying them to put the song behind their posts.

“It came from desperation,” he said.

“I told myself that I’ll give myself a year to make this career work and if it doesn’t, I was ready to throw in the towel on life.”

He spent $15,000 on his social media promotion campaign which paid off as his song quickly took off online.

“I dropped the song and I woke up the next morning and it was going stream after stream,” he said.

“It’s that moment all artists talk about.”

Today, Nike Ticks sits at over 77m streams on Spotify with his other songs also gaining millions of listeners.

His social media presence has helped boost his music with over 70,000 followers on Tiktok and over 35,000 followers on Instagram.

YNG Martyr is currently touring with ARIA award-winning artist Illy on his regional Long Way Round tour.

Originally published as Townsville rapper YNG Martyr speaks on music journey, drug abuse