Winner of the Maioha Award
In 2003 the APRA Maioha Award for Maori Songwriters was awarded for the first time to Ngahiwi Apanui for 'Wharikihia.'
The name Maioha embraces creativity and translates as "a spontaneous composition which reflects a deep emotional outpouring."
The anonymous panel of judges were looking for lyrics that were correct in composition, pronunciation and expression of meaning. The music had to match the kaupapa, and the lyrics and melody had to travel together.
'Wharikihia' is a love song to an absent partner, written in the style of an oriori, or traditional Maori lullaby. The traditional beat of poi in its performance gives it a unique pulse.
Singer-songwriter Ngahiwi Apanui was the founding member of one of the first modern Maori bands, the Waiata/Reggae/Soul blending group, Aotearoa.
Review by RoughGuide.com
"Right from the moment the sweetly sonorous voice of Maori singer-songwriter Ngahiwi Apanui croons acapella on the opening track, he reels the listener in with a canny, sensuous subtlety. E Tau Nei (I Arrive) is both a paean to Maori people and places and a musical exploration that takes in everything from ska, dub and reggae to trip-hop, R&B and techno - without ever glossing over its Polynesian roots...
... Wharikihia, for example, recalls the chugging rhythms of Jamaica's Studio One, while being an oriori, a traditional lullaby, borne out of the sound of poi balls...
Throughout the album Apanui highlights ... indigenous Maori styles by blending them with funky horns, phat bass-lines and, on the gently soulful To Reo Maori E some good old-fashioned acoustic strumming."
