Rei made the most of his seven-week NZ lockdown by focusing on producing what he considers his best te reo album yet, ‘Hoea’ (releasing on June 26th). The title ‘Hoea’ is derived from the familiar whakatauki (saying) ‘Hoea tō waka’, or ‘row your own whaka’.
The bi-lingual lead single, Holy Heka, is an uptempo rap banger, a little risque, but by no means disrespectful… in fact, the main message of the waiata is about the importance of female pleasure.
Following his te reo EP ‘Rangatira’ in 2019, this album demonstrates Rei’s skill and passion for innovation in Māori music. Rei loves to push boundaries and make reo music like never before.
During the rāhui he also featured on the #1 lockdown track ‘Stay’’ as well as making various content for Māori TV, live streams for Hallensteins, his own ‘Tutu Tuesdays’ live songwriting sessions and even made two music videos. One was a comedy track called ‘Miss My Homies’ with Mikey Mayz and Tane The Forest Kid. The other was ‘Rāpeti’, a cheeky track about his super busy summer of touring… All of this from the comfort of his Waterview whare.
Check out the full album below:
