Crete on Waiata Anthems 2022
It’s here! It’s the time of year where our Spotify ‘new releases’ are blessed with gorgeous waiata reo Māori from Aoteroa’s finest musicians. With the aim to help in the revitalisation of te reo Māori and kicking off Mahuru Māori, twenty-six new waiata were released last Friday ahead of Waiata Anthems Week which runs from September 5th (today!) - September 11th.
This year we will be serenaded by the deep baritone and tenors of Sol3 Mio, to punchy pop rhythms of LADI6, velvety voices of Drax Project, and many more. The new recordings will be available on Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube. To accompany this lineup, a second season of the Waiata Anthems documentary series will air on TVNZ+, which features Lorde, Tim Finn, Kora, Barnaby Weir, Mikey Dam, and Paige.
Waiata Anthems started in 2019 to celebrate bilingual Aoteroa in the form of waiata, making te reo Māori accessible in the daily life of New Zealanders. Since the lasting damages of colonisation, te reo has come a long way. The introduction of The Native Schools Act 1867, saw many Māori beaten by school teachers for speaking their native tongue. This was followed by ‘reo trauma’ where Māori were made to feel shame for their culture, identity, and language. The trauma has bled into many generations.
However, hope has begun to come to the fore, largely due to the Māori Language Petition, supported by 30,000 signatures which was presented to Parliament on September 14, 1972 (50 years ago). This petition ignited The Waitangi Tribunal to recognise te reo Māori as a taonga (treasure) in 1986. Now we celebrate 35 years since the Māori Language Act saw te reo become an official language. Waiata Anthems co-founder Dame Hinewehi Mohi states, “Fifty years ago, it was unthinkable that waiata reo Māori could reach the hearts and minds, radios, phones and devices of so many. Today as a nation, we can reflect on our past and look to a bright future where te reo Māori in popular music is accessible to everybody.” What Dame Hinewehi Mohi thought was unthinkable has happened and will continue to happen thanks to the mahi from the Waiata Anthems team and artists who put in so much effort in perfecting their te reo for their waiata.
To commemorate Waiata Anthems Week 2022, we had a kōrero with Crete, a Māori artist who collaborated with Stan Walker and Pacific Heights on Pōuri, a te reo rendition of Cold Nights.
Crete lives in Hokitika, a small town on the West Coast of the South Island of Aoteroa. She always loved to sing, but it was not until her father passed away when she was fourteen years old that she discovered waiata was a form of healing and helped her cope with her loss. She tells us, “that’s when I fully stepped into it and thought, heck I can do something with this.” Crete started uploading videos on Facebook and Instagram. Then she started watching videos on TikTok and saw people duetting with each other and thought “oh I can give this a go and see what happens.” Now her videos reach a large audience, with 50.8K followers on TikTok, 1.2M likes, and her most popular video has 2.5M views.
Beyonce, UB40 and Bob Marley are big inspirations to Crete. She also draws inspiration from Māori artists such as Stan Walker, Maisey Rika, and Rob Ruha. “It’s beautiful that we can get our reo out there and also be unique in our own way,” she says of her fellow inspirations. Crete attributes her success to her positive intention of wanting to help and heal people through her music, as well as daily prayers, singing live, and consistent posting of videos online.
Crete says that one of the highlights of this project was being able to sing with Stan Walker, as she was a big fan since she was young. She feels blessed and honoured that Stan offered her this opportunity. “I loved being in the studio and I just love singing - I was in my element. It’s just such a blessing to be able to utilise these gifts that God has bestowed inside of me to do things like this. And to participate in such a beautiful kaupapa along with talented New Zealand artists, it’s just beautiful to combine with them and create a masterpiece.” She elaborates, “Māori is my culture, and the fact we can create something that is able to encourage or heal or love or help other people – I’m quite proud of it, and it means a lot to me to be able to do this, and to sing it all in te reo Māori, and release it to the world. It’s a blessing.”
Some artists participating in Waiata Anthems may find it difficult to sing in te reo – but not Crete, as this is her first language. Crete went to Kohanga Reo (an infant class in which the lessons are conducted in Māori) and Kura Kaupapa (a Māori language immersion school) since she was five years old. She says that at Kura, you were sent to detention for speaking English, and found learning English difficult. Te reo runs through Crete’s whare and friend circles. She believes that the use of te reo is increasing around her whānau and friends, however at times feels like this is not the case throughout the country. She expressed that it is beautiful when non-Māori learn te reo and incorporate it into daily life, as it is a way of showing respect to Māori culture.
Crete’s wisdom for aspiring artists is “probably the same advice I would give to my younger self, which is keep going, never give up – it’s not going to be easy. There will be hard times, but you know, you’ve got to struggle to get to where you need to be. Stay positive. Never look back, and never give up. You’ve got this!” This wisdom stems from the pain Crete felt from losing many loved ones, which made her initially want to give up and step away from music. However, at the same time she felt encouraged to keep going, wanting to use the power of waiata to help other people who may experience a similar pain. “There is a message that needs to be heard and people who need to be healed,” she says.
Crete hopes to inspire healing, positive change: “A type of unfailing love that no-one can take away from somebody – and that’s like self-love or loving your neighbour as you love yourself type of love. I hope to inspire other people to step out of their comfort zone and into their gifts that God has given them, so they can use those gifts to bless other people too.” Keep an eye out for Crete, because when we asked her where she was going to be in ten years, she laughs and states, “at the top.”
We would like to extend a huge thank you to Crete for the beautiful kōrero, and to the Waiata Anthems team for all the fantastic mahi they do to continue the revitalisation of te reo Māori through waiata. Reap the treats from their mahi by chucking on the Waiata Anthems playlist at your next potluck, or while enjoying a stroll around the neighbourhood on a fresh spring day! You are also cordially invited to use the hashtag #WaiataAnthems to show how you incorporate waiata in your everyday life. In the words of Dame Hinewehi Mohi: “We would love Aotearoa to join us in supporting and celebrating waiata reo Māori, all champions of te reo Māori in our own unique way.”
Ngā mihi nui <3
Waiata Anthems on instagram here!
Crete on instagram here!