May 13th saw the release of a powerful new single and video from WAI ft. THC ‘The HAATI Coastie’. The track, titled "Tōku Reo Tōku Taonga," was born from the heart of Porirua, and is a celebration of the Māori language and heritage, released on a significant date for the artists.

Te Hāmua Nikora, aka THC ‘The HAATI Coastie’, explains the inspiration behind the song:

“There’s a saying that goes, ‘by my language I am known to be Māori.’ This song is about the creation of the Māori language, the ancient days of old when each word sat by itself… Before they had been sewn into sentences, to make a language. This song was written imagining that time. On one side we had ‘aro' on the other was ‘haa’… At one end was ‘manako’ and on the other was ‘whakaaro’… Each word sat in its own realm, but that meant they were just words. Io Matua, the great Creator saw this and reached out his hand, sewing sentences, turning those lonely words into a language, a language of chiefs, a language that gives identity to all who speak it, Te Iwi Māori, the Māori people.”

WAI also shared their excitement about the collaboration:

“This release is a debut collaboration with my tama Uta Te Whanga, his Pāpā Maaka Phat and Te Hāmua Nikora. At the age of 12, Uta created this drill-inspired composition and his Pāpā worked with him to give it a special WAI flavour. It’s Uta’s first release of many and I love it. It’s a privilege to collaborate with Te Hāmua as he rapped on ‘Papatūānuku,’ a track from our debut album and to work with him again has truly been an honour. And Uta turns 16 years young on the 13th of May 2024, so releasing his debut WAI composition on his birthday makes it even more special for me.”

WAI are a Porirua-based Māori electronica roots group. Te Reo Māori and poi beats form the core rhythmic skeleton which they cloak with electronica to produce the ‘WAI stylee’. Their award-winning and critically acclaimed debut album ‘100%’ was inspired by the passing of Mina’s Pāpā, Ture Tangata Ted Ripia. In 2010, their second album ‘ORA’ was born, inspired by the birth of their son Uta Te Whanga. Since 2000, WAI have toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Norway, Canada, Channel Islands, China, South Korea, Spain, France, Australia, and New Zealand. At age 4, Uta joined WAI onstage on his Cajon, with his first 20-gig International tour of Belgium and Denmark. WAI have since toured New Zealand, USA, South Korea, Taiwan, Borneo, and continue to take their unique take on Māori Music to the world.

THC ‘The HAATI Coastie’ is a man with ‘the gift of the gab’. THC uses an approach he calls ‘Te Hāmua Communications’ to convey his unique style of messaging to the varied audiences he works with. He is a descendant of many hapū from Te Tairāwhiti and has an undeniable love for his people of Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngai Tāmanuhiri, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, and all the other iwi and hapū that make up the region.

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