Auckland-based artist and producer WHO SHOT SCOTT shares the eclectic new single ‘BAD GIRLS’ and announces the release of his highly anticipated debut album HAIRY, set for release on the 5th of June.
Following on from the melancholic ‘PROBLEMS IN MY HEAD’, ‘BAD GIRLS’ is the newest, eclectically wavy single from WHO SHOT SCOTT – the genre-blurring and chaotically cathartic project from trailblazing Iraqi-born, Auckland-raised artist and producer Zaidoon Nasir.
The track is drenched in lush synths, neo-soul-esque basslines and grooving drums, finding the artist stepping into a new sonic space while continuing his ongoing exploration of formative teenage experiences – a theme that is ever-present throughout his forthcoming album HAIRY. About the song, WHO SHOT SCOTT shares:
This song is a window back into my 15 year old self. I was a bullied kid, and at that time I had a really close platonic friendship with a girl at high school. We were inseparable until she started hanging with the ‘cool crowd’ and going to their parties. This was of course her right but the part that really hurt was when she started joining in with the others as they made fun of me. The hook ‘don’t you know bad girls do it better’ is written from her perspective, reflecting an identity she felt she had to adopt, abandoning the kind nature I believed was there, leaving me on the outside missing a friend I thought I knew. This song revisits that very specific teenage moment for me, it’s a reconstruction of the logic I had as a 15 year old and how I tried to process how quickly people can change when status gets involved.”
‘BAD GIRLS’ is accompanied by a music video directed by long-time collaborator Connor Pritchard, which sees WHO SHOT SCOTT desperately attempting to rekindle a connection with his former friend, only to be met with emotional distance as she ignores him behind her sunglasses. The visual mirrors the song’s core theme, suggesting she has moved on to a world where he no longer belongs.
Arriving June 5th of 2026, ‘PROBLEMS IN MY HEAD’ and ‘BAD GIRLS’ – as well as previously released singles ‘LFTBU’ and ‘FRENCH FEVER’ – are pieces of the vision that is WHO SHOT SCOTT’s long-awaited debut album HAIRY – a record built on the scars of his adolescence, and the transformation of that pain into power. HAIRY is loud, unfiltered and impossible to box in – it’s an album that thrives in extremes, unafraid to make the listener feel, laugh, and groove in equal measure.
For WHO SHOT SCOTT, the project is as much a reclamation as it is a debut statement. Following two APRA Silver Scroll nominations, a Japan tour, and a feature placement in the global trailer for Borderlands 4, the artist continuously refuses to present a polished, “music industry optimised” version of himself. Instead, HAIRY leans into his raw edges and the contradictions that make his story uniquely his, with the irony being that in its specificity, it becomes deeply relatable to anyone who listens. A middle finger to conformity, and an invitation to anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider. It’s bold, refreshingly unashamed, and it cements WHO SHOT SCOTT as one of the most fearless voices emerging out of Aotearoa right now.
ABOUT WHO SHOT SCOTT:
A boy fled Iraq in the arms of his mother when he was just two years old. Their journey took them through Moscow before finally arriving in New Zealand, where Zaidoon Nasir would grow up navigating the dualities of life between cultures. Settling in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau, he embraced video games and US hip hop like so many of his new peers. Little did he know that within that sense of belonging he would also be confronted with what it meant to be different – in skin, in hair, in heritage. A truth that would eventually drive him to find his voice through art and music.
That voice became WHO SHOT SCOTT, an artist and music producer unafraid to fuse raw vulnerability with sonic explosivity. Over five EPs, he has crafted a fearless, genre-blurring sound, part alternative hip-hop, part punk energy, part electronic experimentation, celebrated internationally for its “filthy and frantic” urgency and emotional depth.
Rolling Stone Australia named him one of the Top 8 New Zealand artists tipped to take over, truly cementing his reputation as a disruptive new force in the scene.
His single ‘LONERS ANTHEM’ spent four weeks at #1 on the NZ Radio Network charts and was voted the most beloved track of 2022. His work has been playlisted by MTV and streaming editorials, synced across television, gaming, and advertising, and championed by radio throughout New Zealand, Australia, the US, UK, and Europe. EPs MERCY III and BRAIN (SIDE A) both broke into the North American College Radio charts, expanding his reach even further and exemplifying the fact that his stories are felt universally.
Recent milestones include two APRA Silver Scroll award nominations, an international sync in the trailer for Borderlands 4, and a successful Japan tour. He has opened for genre heavyweights Snoop Dogg and Yung Gravy, performed at WOMAD, Rhythm & Vines, Soundsplash, SXSW Sydney, BIGSOUND, and Music Matters Singapore. With over 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners and a dedicated cult following across the US, Canada, Central Europe, UK, and Australia, WHO SHOT SCOTT continues to build momentum as one of Aotearoa’s most dynamic voices.
Every song carries the weight of his journey, turning past shame into pride, alienation into human connection, and pain into power.
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