"Pepeha" is a song by New Zealand band

Six60 Six60 are a New Zealand pop rock band formed in Dunedin, Otago in 2008. The band consists of Matiu Walters (lead vocals, guitar), Ji Fraser (lead guitar), Chris Mac (bass guitar), Marlon Gerbes (synthesiser), Hoani Matenga (bass guitar) and E ...

, performed bilingually in 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 C ...

. "Pepeha" is the band's second song to be recorded in Te Reo Māori, and was released as a single in 2021 to coincide with

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori ( en, Māori Language Week) is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to ...

. The song was written by Six60 band members Marlon Gerbes and Matiu Walters, alongside Te Reo experts Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper (a member of the Black Quartet), Jeremy Tātere MacLeod and Sir

Tīmoti Kāretu Sir Tīmoti Samuel Kāretu (born 29 April 1937) is a New Zealand academic of Māori language and performing arts. He served as the inaugural head of the Department of Māori at the University of Waikato, and rose to the rank of professor. He w ...

Background and composition

In 2019, the band collaborated with musician and project coordinator

Hinewehi Mohi Dame Hinewehi Mohi (born 1964) is a New Zealand musician and producer, best known for her double-platinum album ''Oceania'' (1999) and its lead single " Kotahitanga (Union)", performing the New Zealand National Anthem in Māori during the 1999 ...

for the album ''

Waiata / Anthems ''Waiata / Anthems'' is compilation album by New Zealand artists, whereby they re-record previous songs from English to Māori language. It was released in New Zealand 6 September 2019 and it debuted at number 1 on the Official New Zealand Music ...

'', a project for

which reimagined popular New Zealand songs in Māori language. Six60 performed "Kia Mau Ki Tō Ūkaipō", a reimagining of their version of their 2011 single " Don't Forget Your Roots". The album was widely successful, certified platinum by Recorded Music NZ, and in the album's first week, "Kia Mau Ki Tō Ūkaipō / Don't Forget Your Roots" reached number 10 on the New Zealand singles chart - the highest-charting song from the album. Two years later, Six60 decided to collaborate with Mohi a second time for an original song, to be released during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2021. Lead singer Matiu Walters is Māori (

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Rūnanga and marae Te Rarawa has 23 foundation marae: *Korou Kore Marae, ''Ahipara'', represents the hapū of Ng� ...

Te Aupōuri Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost Māori iwi (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Te Hiku o te Ika. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Te Reo ...

and

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 16 ...

), however did not grow up speaking the language. The band wrote the song at Mohi's house. The word pepeha references a form of self-introduction, where the speaker describes their ancestry and connections to the natural environment (such as which

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

your ancestors arrived on, and what mountains, rivers and

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

are important to you and your family roots). Walters wanted to create a pepeha that would apply to all New Zealanders. Musician Reti Hedley performs

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods ...

, or Māori traditional instruments on the song.

Live performances

The band first performed the song live as a part of a

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

livestream on 19 September 2021, as the band was in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

at the time of the song's release.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper – songwriting *Ji Fraser – guitar *Vivek Gabriel – mastering *Marlon Gerbes – producer, songwriting *Reti Hedley –

– songwriting *Chris Mac – bass *Jeremy Tātere MacLeod – songwriting *Nic Manders – engineering, mixing *

– background vocals *Eli Paewai – drums *Matiu Walters – producer, songwriting, vocals, guitar

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs Six60 songs Māori-language songs Macaronic songs New Zealand songs