Three waiata by Māori artists have made it to the finals of this year's APRA Silver Scroll Awards | Kaitito Kaiaka.
Hits by Rob Ruha, Marlon Williams and Troy Kingi are joined in the finals by Tami Neilson and Delaney Davidson, and Natalie Hutton, Minnie Robberds, Joel Becker and Angus Murray.
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This waiata went viral on social media both domestically and internationally.
Performed by Rob Ruha (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) and Te Tai Rāwhiti choir Ka Hao, the waiata is a nod to the highway that runs along the North Island's East Coast.
The song has had over eight million streams on Spotify, nearly 4.5 million views on YouTube, and nearly 19,000 videos using the waiata on TikTok, a platform where it has many people around the world dancing in unison.
The local anthem was written by Rob Ruha, Kaea Hills, Te Amorutu Broughton, Ainsley Tai, Dan Martin and Whenua Patuwai.
My Boy
Following the release of his second album, acclaimed Ngāi Tai, Kai Tahu singer-songwriter Marlon Williams' song My Boy takes a finalist spot. With his third album of the same name due to release on September 9 later this year, My Boy is a "pop song with a Māori folk strum," he says.
"The urge to turn every song on the planet into a Māori strummer descended on me like a fever some time during the long and winding tour cycle of Make Way for Love [in 2018]. So, writing it into my artistic life became the only way to get the fever to lift."
Marlon Williams will be going back on international tour for his third album, going across North America, the UK and Europe later this year.
Williams is also a past winner of the Silver Scroll Award, winning back in 2018 with his waiata Nobody Gets What They Want.
He Ōrite
He's no stranger to the APRA Silver Scroll Awards and is in the Silver Scroll Top 5 for the second year running. But this time, multi-genre Māori artist Troy Kingi (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is accompanied by Iraia Whakamoe, Ryan Prebble and James Coyle AKA The Nudge for their waiata in reo Māori, He Ōrite.
Last year saw Kingi take out the Silver Scroll Award | Kaitito Kaiaka for his funk-driven tune All Your Ships Have Sailed. The song is part of his funk-tributed fourth album The Ghost of Freddie Cesar, and is the fourth of his 10 | 10 | 10 series - 10 albums across 10 different genres in 10 years.
Earlier this year saw Kingi re-release his deep-roots third album Holy Colony Burning Acres translated into te reo Māori [Pū Whenua Hautapu], which was performed and live-streamed during Whakaata Māori's After Hours Tari Takeover, in celebration of Matariki.
Never following the crowd
Speaking with Te Ao Tapatahi today about being made a finalist again, Kingi says he is never one to go with the norm in the music scene, and always stuck to doing his own thing.
"Maybe that's what the [Apra] judges cling on to, that I'm true to my craft. If I wasn't to get any nominations I would still carry on doing exactly what I'm doing."
Should Kingi take out the award, he would be the third person in Apra's history to win back-to-back, and the first person to do so since 1975.
Winning the top award last year was a highlight of his career, Kingi says. "To get the top 5 nod again this year is special. It's always special, [especially] to have it in collaboration with my friends The Nudge, who I feel are one of the most underrated bands in Aotearoa."
And to be named amongst another waiata with te reo Māori, Kingi says it's amazing to see the industry recognising the language more.
His sixth album will be made in the genre of 80s synth-pop, named Year of The Ratbags And Their Musty Theme Songs, is due to release on October 7 this year.
The other two finalists for the Silver Scroll Award | Kaitito Kaiaka this year include Beyond The Stars performed by Tami Neilson and Willie Nelson, and Girl At Night performed by Christchurch four-piece indie-pop band There's A Tuesday.
Finalists for other awards, such as the APRA Maioha award for waiata featuring te reo Māori and APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award, have yet to be announced. The winners will be acknowledged on Tuesday October 18 at Spark Arena in Auckland.
