Poi E
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"Poi E" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Patea Maori Club off of the album of the same name. Its popularity is unique in New Zealand as Maori music rarely reaches popular status. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Maori language and featured a blend of Maori cultural practices in the song and accompanying music video, including "Maori chanting, poi dancing," and the wearing of traditional Maori garments. [1] Not only did the song top the New Zealand pop charts for four weeks, but the single also became the biggest seller in New Zealand for 1984, "outselling all international recording artists." [2] Today the song maintains its status as a cult classic in white New Zealand, as the group behind it, Patea Maori Club, was a one-hit wonder. However, for the Maori people, the song is much more important, as it became "the anthem of a new generation," the generation known as the "hip-hop generation." [2]
The song was written by Maori linguist Ngoi Pewhairangi; the music was scored by Dalvanius Prime. Pewhairangi's intent for writing the song in such a way was to promote Maori ethic pride among young Maori people in a popular format. The two faced indifference from record labels, so Prime produced the song and album under his self-made label, Maui Records. Without radio play and barely any commercial TV airing, a TV news story is credited with shooting the song up to #1 on New Zealand charts in March of 1984. Its popularity that same year grew further when it was well-received by British listeners as the Patea Maori Club toured the United Kingdom, playing at the London Palladium and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as giving a Royal Command Performance.
[edit] "Poi E" and hip-hop
In addition the Maori cultural influences in the music video for the song, there are also some interesting influences from hip-hop culture present in the video. Among the most obvious are rapping and breakdancing, and the song itself actually "combined traditional Maori vocals and show-band and concert-party idioms with gospel and funk," two of hip-hop's own influences as major African-American musical genres. [1] Hip-hop was mixed with the traditional Maori chanting and cultural music because the Patea Maori Club wanted to give the younger hip-hop generation " their language and culture through the medium they were comfortable with," that medium being hip-hop. [2] At the same time as it was helping to teach the children about Maori culture, hip-hop also "provided Maori youth in particular with a viable substitute for their own culture." [1] In this way, hip-hop began to get a hold on the people of New Zealand and the Maoris in particular, and soon Maori hip-hop crews would be springing up throughout Auckland and Wellington suburbs.
