Kiwi musicians showcase some of their most popular songs in Te Reo Māori

May 27, 2021

In recent years there’s been a surge in Māori language music.

In celebration of New Zealand Music Month, a handful of the country's established and emerging musicians got together to showcase some of their newest and most popular songs in Te Reo Māori.

In recent years, there has been a surge in Māori language music, inspiring musicians and listeners alike to want to learn more about Te Reo Māori.

Among those is Troy Kingi. He said the more artists pick up the language in their music, the more it normalises it for emerging artists. 

“It makes it OK to be writing in te reo," he told Seven Sharp.

For newcomer Te Amohaere Hana Jefferies, better known as Haana, she said singing in te reo excited her. 

“To me, it's a huge part of my identity and without it I feel like we wouldn’t have a voice.” 

It all started with the one and only Dalvanius Prime and the Pātea Māori Club, who put modern Māori music on the map with Poi E. 

It blitzed the charts for 22 weeks, including four weeks at number one.

“It becomes more than ‘Oh that’s a nice Māori song’, like a tokenistic song, it just becomes ‘That’s an awesome song,’” Kingi said.

It’s hoped more music like it would help the Government's mission to get one million people in Aotearoa speaking basic Te Reo Māori by 2040. 

Watch the full story in the video above. 

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