Celebrating our 2017 VNZMA Best Maori Artist finalists

Celebrating our 2017 VNZMA Best Maori Artist finalists

Pānui Pāpāho
19 Whiringa-ā-nuku 2017

E whakanui ana i te eke panukutanga o ngā kaiwaiata Māori toa o te tau 2017

Ka tūtohua a TEEKS, Maisey Rika rātou ko Alien Weaponry i Ngā Tohu Puoro o te motu

Kua hipa te tau nui mō te ao puoro Māori me te matahuhuatanga o ngā kaiwaiata e rārangi mai ana kia whakawhiwhia ki te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho ki Ngā Tohu Puoro a Vodafone Aotearoa 2017. Me te tautoko a Te Puni Kōkiri rāua ko Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, ka tūtohu te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho i ngā kaiwaiata e whakaatu nei i te tuakiri Māori motuhake.

Ko TEEKS, Maisey Rika rātou ko Alien Weaponry ngā kaiwaiata i tae ki te whiringa whakamutunga ka whakanuia ki te Whare Tapere o Spark ā te 16 o Whiringa-ā-rangi.

I te tau 2011, ka whakawhiwhia ki a TEEKS (Ngāpuhi, Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui) te tohu Best Vocalist i te whakataetae Smokefree Pacifica Beats, ka uru ai ki te kaupapa whanake i ngā kaiwaiata hou a Pao Pao Pao. Mai i reira ka whakatakoto ia i tana kohinga waiata tuatahi i te Āporo Nui me Aotearoa The Grapefruit Skies EP, i tae ki te #10 i te rārangi o ngā tino kohinga waiata 40 o Aotearoa.

Tāpiri atu ki te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho, e whai wāhi ana ia ki te tohu Breakthrough Artist of the Year me te tohu Best Soul/RnB Artist ki Ngā Tohu Puoro a Vodafone Aotearoa o tēnei tau.

He tino tau nui anō tēnei mō te manu tīoriori reo Māori a Maisey Rika (Ngāti Awa, Tuhoe, Te Arawa, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui).

Ko 1998 te tau tuatahi i tae a Maisey ki te whiringa whakamutunga i Ngā Tohu Puoro a Vodafone Aotearoa, ā, i whakawhiwhia ki tana Tui tuatahi i te tau 2013 mō tana kohinga ātaahua Whitiora. I te Whiringa-ā-rangi 2016 ka whakaputa ia i te kohinga waiata Tira, 10 ngā waiata i āta kōwhiria mai i te kirihimete, i ngā waiata kapa haka, ngā waiata tira me ētahi waiata hou.

I whakawhiwhia ngā tohu e whā ki a Maisey i ngā Tohu Waiata Reo Māori o te tau nei - Tohu – Kōpae Mōteatea Hira, Tohu – Manu Tīoriori Wahine Autaia, Tohu - Waiata Māori Hirame te Tohu - Waiata Māori Hira. I tae anō a Maisey ki te whiringa whakamutunga o te tohu Maioha a APRA.

Ko ngā tūngāne Lewis rāua ko Henry de Jong (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Raukawa) me Ethan Trembath te tira Alien Weaponry – te pēne maitai takawhitiwhiti – te whakamutunga o ngā kaiwaiata i tohua mō te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho

He maha ā rātou waiata reo Māori, ā, ko rātou anake te tira waiata i toa i ngā whakataetae e rua arā Smokefree Rockquest me te Smokefree Pacifica Beats (2016). I tautoko anō hoki rātou i ngā tira waiata Devilskin me Shihad (i whakawhiwhia ki ngā Tui 16).

Nō Waipu ēnei taitama, ā, nō muri nei i whakawhiwhia rātou ki te Tohu Maioha a APRA mō tā rātou waiata ‘Raupatu.’ Kei te whakatika rātou ki te tū ki roto o Ūropi ā te 2018 i muri i te haina kirimana me tētahi whakahaere o Berlin. Kei te titiro te tokotoru nei ki te whakaputa i tā rātou kohinga waiata hou ā te tīmatanga o te tau e tū mai nei.

E mea ana te Kaiwhakahaere Matua o Recorded Music Damian Vaughan ka mutu te pai o te matahuhua o ngā kaiwaiata i tohua mō te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho i tēnei tau.

“I tēnei tau kua eke ētahi o ā tātou kaiwaiata motuhake, whakaihiihi hoki ki te whiringa whakamutunga o te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho. He tohu ngangahau tēnei e harikoa ai te ngākau,” te kī a Vaughan.

Ka pānuitia te kaiwhiwhi i te Tohu Kaiwaiata Māori Toa a Te Māngai Pāho ki Ngā Tohu Puoro a Aotearoa 2017 e pāohotia ai ki te hōngere Toru ā te 16 Whiringa-ā-rangi i te 8.30pm. Ahakoa ko hea koe, te whāriki whero, te kāinga rānei, ka āhei koe te mātakitaki i te tino o ngā kaiwaiata i Ngā Tohu Puoro a Vodafone Aotearoa 2017.

E āhei ana te iwi whānui ki te hoko tīkiti whānui $25 + utu tāpui, mai i Ticketmaster.

Whakamanatanga Pāpāho

Mō te pāhi mahi pāpāho me whakapā ki a Sarah Prigg sarahp@peadpr.co.nz.

Mō ngā kōrero mohoa ā-ipurangi, titiro ki: www.nzmusicawards.co.nz
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@VNZMA and use the official hashtag #VNZMA

Media release
19 October 2017

Celebrating the success of the 2017 Best Maori Artist finalists
TEEKS, Maisey Rika and Alien Weaponry will be acknowledged at the Music Awards

It’s been another phenomenal year for Māori music with a diverse line-up of musicians lined-up for Te Māngai Pāho Best Maori Artist at the 2017 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. With the support of Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori the Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori Artist Tui acknowledges our artists who make music reflecting a unique Māori identity.

TEEKS, Maisey Rika and Alien Weaponry represent this year’s finalists who will be honoured at Spark Arena on 16 November.

In 2011 TEEKS (Ngāpuhi, Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui), won Best Vocalist at Smokefree Pacifica Beats before participating in the late Dr Hirini Melbourne’s Māori artist development initiative Pao Pao Pao. This led to recording time in both New York and Aotearoa where he recorded his debut release The Grapefruit Skies EP, which reached #10 on the Official NZ Top 40 Albums Chart.

Alongside being a finalist for the Te Māngai Pāho Best Maori Artist, he’s also in the running for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Best Soul/RnB Artist at this year’s Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.

It’s also been an impressive year for Te Reo songbird Maisey Rika (Ngāti Awa, Tuhoe, Te Arawa, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui).

Maisey first became a finalist for the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in 1998 and won her first Tui in 2013 for her album Whitiora. In November 2016 she released Tira, a collection of 10 carefully selected waiata kirihimete, waiata kapa haka, waiata tira and waiata hōu.

Maisey was celebrated at the recent Waiata Māori Music Awards with four wins - Best Traditional Māori Album, Best Female Solo Artist, Best Song by a Māori Artist and the Best Songwriter Award. She was also a finalist for this year’s APRA Maioha award.

Brothers Lewis and Henry de Jong (Ngāti Pikiāo, Ngāti Raukawa) and Ethan Trembath are Alien Weaponry – the three-piece thrash metal band which rounds out the finalists for the Te Māngai Pāho Best Maori Artist.

Many of their songs are in Te Reo Māori, and they are the only band in have won both the Smokefree Rockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats (2016). They have also opened for fellow 2017 finalists Devilskin, and 16-time Tui winners Shihad.

The Waipu-based teens were recently honoured at the APRA Silver Scroll Awards where they won the prestigious Maioha Award for their single ‘Rautapu’, and they are currently preparing to play a selection of European dates in 2018 after signing with a Berlin-based music agency. The group are also planning to release their debut album early next year.

Recorded Music CEO Damian Vaughan says it’s great to see such diversity represented by this year’s Te Māngai Pāho Best Maori Artist finalists.

“This year we have some of the most unique and exciting artists as finalists for the Te Māngai Pāho Best Maori Artist. It’s a vibrant category that never fails to delight,” says Vaughan.

The winner of the 2017 Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori Artist will be announced at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards which will be broadcast live on Three on 16 November at 8.30pm. Whether you’re on the red carpet or your couch at home, you’ll be able to watch some of New Zealand’s finest musical talent at the Music Awards.

Tickets are on sale now for $25 general admission + booking fee, available from Ticketmaster.

ends

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