July 04, 2024
Te reo song contest open
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Aspiring songwriters have until the end of the month to polish their entries to Play It Strange.
The long-running competition for high school taiohi also includes Te Reo Māori Songwriting Competition, backed by Te Rourou One Aotearoa Foundation.
Musician Rei, who is judging that contest, says te reo Māori music is in an adventurous time and he can’t wait to see how the teenagers express themselves.
“If you’re making reo Māori music, there’s no expectation that you got to sound one way or one certain type of genre. Can literally do whatever you want. You want to do death metal in te reo, you want to do rap, you want to do hip hop, you want to do reggaeton, like whatever your style is whiu mai and just get amongst it,” he says.
The first place winner will receive a mentoring session with Rei, a $500 Rockshop voucher and a day in a professional studio to record their song, which will feature on the 2024 Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition digital album.