"At the end of 2018, I asked my friend Adam Holt, who heads Universal Music, what he thought of working with artists to translate and record their hit songs in Māori. Dave Dobbyn had released the Nau Mai Rā version of Welcome Home the year before, and it was awesome. Adam thought this idea was great too, and he insisted that it should be a Māori-led initiative.
I felt it was important that the first people we asked were the two artists with the biggest platforms: SIX60 and Lorde. If we were going to do this, I wanted everybody to hear it, not just in Aotearoa but all around the world.
SIX60 instantly recognised the power of the concept and jumped onboard straight away. The waiata they delivered, Kia Mau Ki Tō Ūkaipō, led the charge for the album, and it became a huge hit and an instant Aotearoa anthem.
Lorde was focusing on her Solar Power album project at that time, so she wasn’t available for the original Waiata Anthems album. But she was committed to working together on the kaupapa that was to become her Te Ao Mārama EP.
We also reached out to Sony Music, Warner Music, and independent artists, from a range of musical genres and backgrounds.
The reaction from the artists and their labels to placing te reo Māori within popular music was incredible. - Hinewehi Mohi
Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland | Auckland | 2010-19 | Waiata Anthems launched | Whānau & community
Comments