Poi E

"Poi E" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Patea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Its popularity is unique in New Zealand as Māori music rarely reaches popular status. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song and accompanying music video, including Māori chanting, poi dancing, and the wearing of traditional Māori garments. 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." Today the song maintains its status as a cult classic in non Māori New Zealand, as the group behind it, Patea Māori Club, was a one-hit wonder. However, for Māori, the song is much more important, as it became "the anthem of a new generation", the generation known as the "hip-hop generation".

Poi E (album)

Poi E is an album released by New Zealand Māori culture group the Patea Maori Club. In 1984 the totally Maori language title track Poi-E topped the New Zealand Pop charts for four consecutive weeks, and was that year's biggest selling single - outselling all international recording artists.

Dalvanius Prime, the album's producer and leader, was known for merging the styles of traditional Maori show bands and more recent Maori hip-hop.

Later, in the early 1990s, Poi E was produced as a Maori musical with additional songs, and in 2000, selections were performed in Sydney, at the Waitangi Day Concert

Track listing

References

External links