Rei & Olivia Foa'i

Nominated for:
SunPix Best Pacific Language
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​Rei’s on a mission to mix tradition with the modern. His upbeat multi-genre sound always gets listeners pumping and leaves them feeling culturally empowered. Add in modern kapa-haka sounds, te reo Māori and high-end electronic production, and you have something unique to the Australasian music scene.
 
Rei’s (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Pākeha) music seamlessly bridges urban and electronic, with elements of hip hop, pop and dance flavors. With over 10 million Spotify Streams, 6 Waiata Māori Awards and 4 NZ Music Awards nominations, Rei is carving out his space in the world.
 
His most loved tune ‘Good Mood’ hit #1 on the US Viral 50 Chart on Spotify and has racked up over 5 million streams.
 
Rei was awarded Best Māori Urban album at the Waiata Māori Music Awards 4 times (2022, 2020, 2017, 2015), Best RnB (2022) and Best Music Video for The Chief’s Speech in 2016.
 
His albums were finalists for best engineer at the 2017 and 2018 NZ Music Awards and he was a finalist for Best Māori Artist and Best RnB Artist in 2019, and the Mana Reo Award 2021. ‘Hiwa-i-Te-Rangi’ with Maisey Rika was also a top 5 Silver Scrolls finalist in 2021. Rei also was awarded Best Emerging Manager in 2018 at the Music Managers Awards with Chris Chetland (Kog Studio).
 
Other notable achievements: Collab with AU DJ Friendless ‘Sign Me Up’ hit #20 on UK Cool Cuts Chart MTV Australia’s Indigenous artist of the Moment (2020). Collaborations with Friendless, Lee Mvthews, Maimoa, Sean Richards, PT, Shayna, Sweet Mix Kids, Maisey Rika, Baitercell and many more.
 
Olivia Foa’i is a singer, songwriter, dancer and director. Since 2010, she has been the lead female vocalist and dancer for acclaimed Polynesian band - Te Vaka; having toured with them to nearly 40 countries. In 2016 her voice was featured throughout Disney’s Moana soundtrack, including the opening song over the iconic Disney castle – “Tulou Tagaloa”. At the World Premiere of Moana, Olivia (alongside father Opetaia Foa’i and Te Vaka band members) performed songs from the movie before introducing the Hollywood audience to the film for the first time. In 2018 Olivia sang the role of "Moana" in the Te Vaka/Moana Orchestra tour accompanied by the Symphony Orchestras of Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington. Olivia released her debut solo album Candid in 2019. An 8-track bilingual Pop record with strong Pacific influences, collecting the Tui for “Best Pacific Album” at the Aotearoa Music Awards and “Best Female Artist” at the Pacific Music Awards 2020.
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