Maisey Rika is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and composer, performing in both English and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. Her five original albums have each reached the Top 40 in the

Official New Zealand Music Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. She was named an Arts Foundation Laureate in 2021, has received awards at the Waiata Māori Music Awards and

APRA Awards APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies: *APRA Awards (Australia) The APRA Music Awards in Australia are annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters, ...

, including APRA Best Māori Songwriter in 2010 and 2013, and has twice won Best Māori Language Album at the NZ Music Awards.

Career

Early life

Rika was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

to a

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

, Tūhoe,

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi (Iwi is the Maori word for tribe) located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū. History Early ...

mother and a Samoan father, and moved to

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompas ...

at a young age. While her mother did not speak Māori, Rika attended a kōhanga reo, a

kura kaupapa Rúben de Almeida Barbeiro (born August 21, 1987 in Leiria), better known as KURA, is a Portuguese electro house music DJ and producer. Kura has released tracks through labels such as Hardwell's Revealed Recordings, Flashover Recordings, M ...

, and Māori boarding schools, which allowed her to learn the language from a young age. She began singing professionally at age 13. Rika was the featured soloist on ''E Hine,'' a compilation of Māori traditional songs released in 1997, which went double platinum and won Best Maori Language Album at the NZ Music Awards in 1998, as well as earning her a nomination for Best Female Vocalist, aged 15. Rika attended

University of Waikato , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , ci ...

, where she studied psychology, education and Māori language. In 2004, Rika auditioned to compete on

New Zealand Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series ''Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered ...

, but did not proceed past auditions after choosing to sing in Māori.

2008-present

Rika self-released a self-titled EP in early 2009 sung in English, which charted at No. 40 in the NZ Top 40 and drew the attention of film producer Shae Sterling, who was in the process of founding label Moonlight Sounds. Later that year, she released her debut studio album ''Tohu'', which won her a total of four awards at the 2010 Waiata Māori Music Awards, and she toured internationally with her brother and collaborator JJ. Rika's following album, ''Whitiora'', was written in collaboration with her

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

in te reo Māori, and recorded in Rotorua. It included diverse influences such as swing, and she toured with JJ throughout the Pacific. Rika travelled with a delegation of 100 artists from New Zealand to

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

for the 12th

Festival of Pacific Arts The Festival of Pacific Arts, Pacific Arts Festival, or FESTPAC is a traveling festival hosted every four years, in the same year as the Summer Olympics, by a different country in Oceania (map). It was conceived by the Pacific Community (former "' ...

in May 2016, representing

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

. In 2016, Rika released a

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

, ''Tira'', featuring a mix of reworked Christmas hymns and new compositions. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rika wrote nine songs inspired by the nine stars of Matariki, which she learned about from Māori astronomer

Rangi Mātāmua Rangiānehu Mātāmua is a New Zealand indigenous studies and Māori cultural astronomy academic and is Professor of Mātauranga Māori at Massey University. He is Māori, of Tūhoe descent. He is the first Māori to win a Prime Minister's ...

. Working with new producers for the first time, including

Tiki Taane Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand-based musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pu ...

, the new songs intended to connect the stars and the gods to contemporary life in Aotearoa. The resulting album, ''Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimātea'', was released on July 17, 2020. Rika joined the inaugural Top 10 Te Reo Māori Singles chart released by

Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mu ...

on June 21, 2021, with her songs "Waitī, Waitā" at number 6 and "Hiwa-i-te-Rangi" at number 8.

Collaborations

Beginning in 2012, Rika performed alongside Māori singers Merenia and Whirimako Black, Ngaiire from Papua New Guinea, and aboriginal artists Emma Donovan and Ursula Yovich as The Barefoot Divas. Rika has also performed at

Matariki ), signalling the Māori new year., litcolor=, observedby=New Zealanders, nickname=, official_name=, alt=, image=M45 Pleiades Pbkwee (cropped to core 9 stars).jpg, relatedto=, date2022=24 June, date2023=14 July In Māori culture, Matariki is the ...

celebrations with Annie Crummer, Ria Hall and Betty-Anne Monga as Kāhui Whetū. In 2014, Rika was featured on

Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh and last season of ''Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contract ...

's song "

", sung entirely in Māori, which reached number two on the New Zealand Singles Chart. In 2019, Rika collaborated with composer Rob Ruha and performers Majic Pāora, Bella Kalolo, Ria Hall, Seth Haapu and Troy Kingi to release " Ka Mānu", a single in support of Māori activists occupying Ihumātao.

Personal life

Rika is married to Bossy Hill, with whom she has three sons. She lives in

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, wh ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards

The Arts Foundation

Rika was named an Arts Foundation Laureate in 2021. She received the Jillian Friedlander Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa Award, a $25,000 prize that recognizes outstanding Māori and Pasifika artists.

NZ Music Awards

Rika has twice been awarded Best Māori Language Album at the NZ Music Awards, in 1998 for her appearance as a soloist on ''E Hine'' and in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

for her album ''Whitiora''. Her appearance on ''E Hine'' also earned her a 1998 nomination for Best Female Vocalist. For the 2017 NZ Music Awards, Rika was nominated as Best Māori Artist, but withdrew ahead of the awards ceremony to avoid elevating herself above other Māori artists, according to her manager.

APRA Awards

Rika was nominated for the APRA Maioha Award for her song "Repeat Offender" in 2009. She won the same award in 2013 with Te Kahautu Maxwell, and Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper for their song "Ruaimoko". Rika also won APRA Best Māori Songwriter in both 2010 and 2013. Her songs "Hiwa-i-te-rangi" and "Turangawaewae" were both named top 20 finalists for the 2021 APRA Silver Scroll.

Waiata Māori Music Awards

The Waiata Māori Music Awards are judged by members of the Māori music industry. , - , 2009 , Maisey Rika , Best Māori Female Solo Artist , , - , rowspan = "4" , 2010 , rowspan = "2" , Maisey Rika , Best Māori Female Solo Artist , , - , Best Māori Songwriter , , - , ''Tohu'' , Best Māori Pop Album , , - , "Nia" , Best Māori Song , , - , rowspan = "6" , 2013 , rowspan = "2" , Maisey Rika , Best Māori Songwriter , , - , Best Māori Female Solo Artist , , - , rowspan = "2" , "Tangaroa Whakamautai" , Best Music Video by a Māori Artist , , - , Best Māori Song , , - , rowspan = "2" , ''Whitiora'' , Best Māori Traditional Album (Te Reo) , , - , Best Māori Pop Album , , - , rowspan = "4" , 2017 , rowspan = "2" , Maisey Rika , Best Māori Songwriter , , - , Best Māori Female Artist , , - , ''Tira'' , Best Traditional Māori Album , , - , "Taku Mana" , Best Song by a Māori Artist , , - , 2020 , "Ka Mānu" (with Rob Ruha, Horomona Horo, Majic Paora, Troy Kingi, Ria Hall, Seth Haapu & Bella Kalolo) , Radio Airplay Song of the Year by a Māori Artist in Te Reo ,

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

Maisey Rika
at AllMusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Rika, Maisey People from Whakatāne New Zealand Māori women singers New Zealand musicians 21st-century New Zealand women singers Living people People of Māori descent Ngāti Awa people Ngāi Tūhoe people Te Arawa people Te Whānau-ā-Apanui people New Zealand people of Samoan descent Year of birth missing (living people)