From P to Peace: How Sweet & Irie's Edward Ru turned a family tragedy into a legacy

Edward Ru didn’t write his biggest hit for the charts. He wrote it to save his family’s life.

In 2006, the man behind the “Pacific sunshine reggae” sound of Sweet & Irie was trapped in the grip of methamphetamine.

He wasn’t just a victim of the drug; he was the one who brought it home.

“I was one of the reasons why my family was all on meth,” Ru tells Pacific Days. “I was the introduction. So I wrote a song about meth. This was my way of introducing the other side of ‘I'm sorry, I apologise’.”

That song, Ban the Burn, became a redemptive anthem for a generation. When Ru finally released the accompanying music video in 2020, it was a public apology for a private war.

He says the message can never fade because the threat hasn't: “Meth will always be around so the waiata has to always be around.”

Watch Edward Ru's full interview below.

Trading patches for melodies

The turnaround was instant and legendary. When Ru chose music over meth, his family followed.

In a move that sounds like a movie script, Ru’s older brother, a patched gang member, traded his Harley-Davidson for a harmonica and joined the band.

Cleaning up the adults changed everything for his children, nephews, and nieces.

Ru realised that while they were high, they were blind to the talent right in front of them.

“We didn't see potential in our kids, we just saw potential in ourselves with methamphetamine. Once we took the meth away, we started to realise there's potential right here in our babies.”

Today, the Ru name is no longer associated with the “burn” of the glass pipe but with the spotlight of success. His children and nephews are flourishing, from acting alongside Temuera Morrison in the film Mahana to representing Auckland and Waikato as elite baseball players.

The architecture of peace

For the past two decades, the raspy-voiced legend has lived by a simple manifesto: peace is not something you find, “it’s created”.

“You can walk into a room and try to find peace, but there might be one person that does not want [it],” Ru explains. “But if we walk in a room, told everyone you love them, peace has been created.”

He is a frequent sight in South Auckland behind his food pātaka (pantry) service, delivering food parcels and services to families in need

While he loves music, he tells tamariki of Ōtara that the “island way” of discipline and education is the true anchor.

“Education has a lot to do with our journeys of life,” he says. “How do we feel confident to talk to other people? Our babies need to know that school and teachers are very important. Take the lessons and take them home and keep learning them.”

As New Zealand Music Month kicks off, Ru is preparing to release a new dance version of his 2012 track, Back to the Islands, on 20 May.

For those wanting to feel the vibration of "Pacific sunshine reggae" in person, Ru and a lineup of South Auckland artists will be performing at Queen’s Wharf every Friday this month. Sweet & Irie perform on 15 May. Entry is free.