KIKO Releases New Waiata for This Year’s Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori

Auckland-based Māori rock band KIKO drops a new single for this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

Āwhā is the name of the band’s new reo Māori waiata released today alongside a stunning music video. The song is from the band’s new EP, Waharoa, which the musicians plan to release at the end of the year. It’s been a project in the works for a while and one the band is happy to see come to completion.

Front man Rewi McLay (Ngāti Kahu and Ngāti Hine) said the band is stocked to be able to share its strongest song to date for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

Lyric writer Hohepa Maclean explains the kaupapa of the waiata:

Āwhā

The Tempest. The environment is to be respected, when a tempest arrives, the roaring winds whip, the world shakes, the lands, the forests and the seas are left desolated. Just like the heart of man, when all the strife and troubles of the world come, one gets anxious, disturbed, stressed. But once the storm passes and the winds have calmed, and the waters cleared the land regenerates, and grows back. This song is about resilience, encouraging people that no matter how hard the storm is on the inside, it will pass and the sun will shine again, and you will grow from it.

Āwhā

Koia rā ko te taiao e noho mana nei ki waho, ka tū mai tētahi āwhā nui, ka patua rā e ngā hau kaha, haruru pai ana te ao, mōtī ana te whenua, mōtī ana te ngāhere, kakare nei te wai. Koia e ōrite ana ki te ngākau tangata e noho mana nei ki roto, pā mai nei ngā raruraru o te ao, ka hēmanawa, ka kārangirangi, ka mate nei i ngā au kaha o roto. Heoi anō koia rā te kōrero he rā kei tua, tae mai ana te āwhā, patua ana te ao, ngaro atu ana te āwhā ka tupu anō te ao. Ko te waiata nei he mea whakahou i te tangata ahakoa rā ngā tūwhai āhuaranga ka pā kino nei ki a koe, kia ū, kia kaha kei tua atu anō te rā e whiti ana, ā, ka tupu anō koe.

The music video to the waiata features powerful imagery and thought-provoking storytelling. It is co-directed by Lukas Wharekura and Rewi McLay who also produced it. The director of photography is Pepe de Hoyos and the editor is Alex Gandar and makeup, Levonne Scott.

KIKO has been sharing its music and mahi, aimed at empowering indigenous people around the world, for the past five years.

The musicians started writing songs in both English and Māori but now te reo is at the forefront of their waiata, which aim to inspire people to retain and revitalise the language and culture.

Āwhā is not the first single the band has released for Te Wiki o te reo Māori. In 2020, KIKO released the waiata, Ka Puta, to encourage people to return to their Māori roots, to keep the Māori language and culture alive.

Check out KIKO below:

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