October 06, 2020
Maimoa flies flag for reo music
Maimoa founder Pere Wihongi says the inclusion of a Mana Reo award in the New Zealand Music Awards is a step towards normalising Māori music.
The award recognises waiata with at least 50 per cent te reo Māori content.
Maimoa is competing for it alongside Six60 and the gospel song collective Mōhau, which includes Rob Ruha, Ria Hall, Troy Kingi, Bella Kalolo, and other Māori music heavyweights.
It's also up against Ria Hall and Stan Walker for the best Māori artist tohu.
Wihongi says it's about time the industry-accepted te reo Māori.
"The Māori language music industry and the New Zealand music industry are two complete worlds at this stage so it is about merging the two to normalise te reo Māori and te reo Māori and Maori language music is what makes New Zealand music so unique and distinctive," he says.
The Aotearoa Music Awards will be presented on Sunday 15 November in a live broadcast on The Edge TV, Three and ThreeNow.
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