Police are searching for Malo Luafutu, better known as Scribe, saying he failed to appear in court to face various drug charges.
The 38-year-old has several warrants for his arrest, the police said.
The hip-hop and rap artist also went by Jeshua Luafutu and Ioane Luafutu and had links to Canterbury and Wellington, they said.
They said they would like to hear from anyone who might have seen him.
Scribe is most famous for his 2003 singles 'Stand Up' and 'Not Many', which spent 12 weeks at number one. His debut album The Crusader, released in New Zealand in October 2003, sold 85,000 copies in this country - five times platinum status.
Rhyme Book, his second album, was released in 2007, but sales failed to match the first record's success. In 2011, he admitted he had become addicted to drugs, alcohol and gambling, to the point he had sold off some of his platinum awards.
In November 2011 he was arrested in Wellington for disorder and released after a formal warning.
Scribe has announced he was working on a third album, titled Therapy, but this has not been released.