Music News - Celebrating our 2017 VNZMA Best Maori Artist finalists
19 October 2017 - 0 Comments
It’s been another phenomenal year for Māori music with a diverse line-up of musicians lined-up for Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori 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 Māori 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 Māori 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 Raupatu, 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 Māori Artist finalists.
“This year we have some of the most unique and exciting artists as finalists for the Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori 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.
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