E tū, stand proud! Kia kaha, say it loud!
A special evening of indigenous activism, avant garde Māori performance art and soulful te reo Māori waiata from Aotearoa hip hop legends Upper Hutt Posse, Tāmaki Makaurau radicals Whaea & the Rumble and Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) based up and coming singer songwriter Miss Pou.
Having become the first act in Aotearoa to release a Rap single in 1988, Upper Hutt Posse have remained a strong māori presence in the country's music scene. In 2002 UHP received a Tui Award at the 2003 NZ Music Awards for 'Best Mana Māori Album' with 'Te Reo Māori Remixes', a 10-track album of earlier favourites remixed and featuring only Māori-language lyrics. Their latest album 'Declaration of Resistance' was recently re-released on vinyl and the band's last live performance was a stunning set at the 2020 Newtown Festival. Te Kupu and the band return to Newtown (Omāroro) on election night and they'll be sure to have a kōrero or two about that and the revival efforts of te reo, the māori language.
Piripi Mackie (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngā Rauru, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Tuwharetoa), Siobhan Leilani (Ngāti Ruanui, Samoa (Le'auva'a)) and Geneva Alexander-Marsters (Ngāti Kahungunu Ki Wairoa, Rarotonga (Palmerston Island/Aitutaki)) are Whaea in the Rumble, residents of Tāmaki Makaurau.
About
Formed in early 2018, 'Whaea and The Rumble' is a 3 piece performance group who incorporate industrial rhythms and Te Reo Rangatira as a means to express self identity. They are an interdisciplinary performance group merging kapa haka, spoken word and industrial beats drawing from Te Ao Māori which filters into our Tuakiri as modern day Tangata Whenua
Miss Pou is a young, bilingual, talented, up and coming singer/songwriter who has a growing online presence with over 100,000 views on youtube and facebook. Her EP 'Akahoa te Iti' was released in 2018. Having previously performed with Tama Waipara, and workshopped with Maisey Rika, Fran Kora and Tiki Taane she is looking forward to sharing the stage with UHP and Whaea and the Rumble.
