Fifteen-year-old Rotorua singer Nikau Grace says her new single was written as a way to resolve an identity challenge,
Tōkū Tuakiri has been released as part of the Waiata Anthems New Zealand Music Month drop.
Grace, who has Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Whānau Ā Apanui connections, says it was written during an emotional time.
“I was really confused about who I was because people kept telling me I’m not who I am, I’m not Maori because I don’t look it. I’d say (the song) got me through a lot of hard times when I really didn’t know who I am and it’s just my way of telling myself I am who I am and no one else can change that or tell me differently,” she says.
