‘Hoea’ – The new te reo Maori album from Rei

Rei made the most of his 7 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 to 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 Maori music. Rei loves to push boundaries and make reo music like never before.

“Less jingle jangle tihaa. More doof doof doitz BLEH!” – Rei.

During the rahui he also featured on the #1 lockdown track Stay as well as making various content for Maori TV, live streams for Hallensteins, his own ‘Tutu Tuesdays’ live songwriting sessions and even made 2 music videos. One was a comedy track called Miss My Homies with Mikey Mayz and Tane The Forest Kid. The other was Rapeti, a cheeky track about his super busy summer of touring… All of this from the comfort of his Waterview whare.

– Hoea (made with support from Te Mangai Paho and NZ on Air) follows up Rei’s busiest summer playing NZ’s top festivals, RnV, One Love, Splore, Soundsplash and Festival of Lights

– In 2019 Rei’s double VNZMA nominated album The Bridge was released and nominated for best RnB and best Maori album, gaining over 4 million Spotify streams before a 9 date NZ tour. Many Singles achieved support from major stations Mai, ZM, Flava and on international stations.

– Hoea includes additional production from D. Love (Credits: Timmy Trumpet/Savage – Freaks, Pieter T – My Baby). It was also mixed and mastered by Kog Studio’s Chris Chetland (Credits for mastering: Dua Lipa, Snoop Dog and Bebe Rexha, as well as top NZ and Australia albums).