July 05, 2022
Translation sparks Kora reo journey
Reggae band Kora have released a te reo Māori version of its hit Politician … Taraketi.
Frontman Francis Kora says the band since it was first released on the 2004 Volume EP the song has been picked up for various protests and Māori kaupapa,
The says they had to start from scratch because the original recordings were lost with the demise of Wellington’s Surgery studio.
Heavy-hitters Hinewehi Mohi and Timoti Karetu helped with the translation, and the whole exercise has put fire in his reo journey.
“I don’t speak reo Māori fluently but it’s been a real massive kickstart. I want to go and do a full immersion course next year just because it’s such a spiritual process of – here’s a simple song in English but the song means so much more when it was translated into te reo Māori,” Kora says.