Born Joshua Williams of Samoan and Fijian heritage on September 3, 1986, in Mangere, Auckland, he is the younger brother of Emily Williams, a member of the R&B group Young Divas who competed on the 2005 season of Australian Idol, and Lavina Williams, a member of the R&B group Ma-V-Elle who competed on the 2006 season of Australian Idol. After competing in the World Hip-Hop Dance Championships in Los Angeles, CA, in 2006 and 2008 as a member of the respective dance groups Dziah and Prestige, Williams made his commercial recording debut as an R&B singer with a style often compared to that of American R&B superstar Chris Brown. Williams' debut release, "Blow Ya Mind," was a fairly big hit that reached number 13 on the New Zealand singles chart in 2008. Several follow-up singles were released, among them the Top Five hit "Ghetto Flower" and the Top Ten hit "Stand with You." These singles were included on Williams' full-length album debut, Young Love (2009), itself a Top Five hit released on the label Illegal Musik in association with Warner Music. ~ Jason Birchmeier