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Poi E
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Wikipedia article
"'Poi E'" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Ptea Mori Club off the album of the same name. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Mori language and featured a blend of Mori cultural practices in the song and accompanying music video, including Mori chanting, poi dancing, and the wearing of traditional Mori (garments). The song reached No 1 in New Zealand in each of the following 3 decades.Mitchell, Tony. "Kia Kaha! (Be Strong!): Maori and Pacific Islander Hip-hop in Aotearoa-New Zealand." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 280-305. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
The song topped the New Zealand pop charts for four weeks and also became the biggest seller in New Zealand for 1984, "outselling all international recording artists.""The History." accessed 11 April 2008. [http://www.digitalus.co.nz/poi/index.html Poi-E home page] . Today the song maintains its status as a cult classic in non-Mori New Zealand, as the group behind it, Patea Maori Club, was a one-hit wonder. However, for Mori, the song is much more important, as it became "the anthem of a new generation", the generation known as the "hip-hop generation".
Background
The song was written by Mori linguist Ngoi Pwhairangi; the music was scored by Dalvanius Prime. Pwhairangi's intent in writing the song in such a way was to promote Mori ethnic pride among young Mori 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. The single was the first release on Maui, which was distributed by WEA.
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 1984. Its popularity that same year grew further when it was well received by British listeners as the Ptea Mori Club toured the United Kingdom, playing at the London Palladium and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as giving a Royal Command Performance. "Poi E" alongside "E Ipo" (1982) by Prince Tui Teka (similarly written by Pwhairangi and produced by Prime) were the first widely successful songs sung in Te Reo Mori in mainstream music, and had a great impact on the promotion of Te Reo and Mori culture in New Zealand.
It briefly re-entered the New Zealand charts in 2009 following its use in a Vodafone promotion. It also made a comeback in 2010 by reaching the New Zealand Top 20 after being featured in the successful New Zealand comedy film 'Boy'. On May 24 that year it reached No.3. "Poi E" is the only New Zealand song to chart over three decades.
Hip-hop
In addition to the Mori cultural influences in the music video for the song, there are interesting influences from hip-hop culture present in the video. Among the most obvious are rapping and breakdancing, and the song itself "combined traditional Mori 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. Hip-hop was mixed with the traditional Mori chanting and cultural music because the Ptea Mori 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. At the same time as it was helping to teach the children about Mori culture, hip-hop also "provided Mori youth in particular with a viable substitute for their own culture."
Hip hop already had a hold on the people of New Zealand and the Mori in particular, and Poi-E reinforced it and Mori hip-hop crews continued springing up throughout New Zealand.the Twilight Boppers, Christchurch
Alternative version
The original version of the song without hip hop elements added was judged first equal in the poi song category at the 1983 Polynesian festival in Auckland.
In popular culture
In July 2016, a film about the song, 'Poi E: The Story of Our Song', premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Chart positions
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Personnel
*Dalvanius Prime - arrangement, producer
*Alastair Riddell electronic drums
*Fred Faleauto timbales
*Tama Renata electronic drums, guitar
*David Hurley engineer, co-producer
References
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