Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s plenty to celebrate in New Zealand’s Pacific music scene. The finalists for the 2020 Pacific Music Awards were announced today after a record number of entries, resulting in 24 finalists across 13 categories.
Pacific Music Awards Trust spokesperson Rev. Mua Strickson-Pua said that despite the challenging situation we find ourselves in, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the successes of our artists.
“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt, even by our humble 2020 Pacific Music Awards, requiring us to navigate through these times of uncertainty and great sadness. We acknowledge our traditional role and contribution to uplift the spirit and well-being of our people.
“We also take on the challenge of navigating the new economic reality and technology opportunities for our awards. Today we’re immensely proud to recognise this year’s finalists, who are exciting new and seasoned Pacific artists, that are making waves and taking Pacific music to new heights and realities. ”
Leading the finalists are hip hop duo Church & AP who are the fresh faces behind the next wave of New Zealand and Pacific hip hop. After being nominated for Best Hip Hop Album at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in 2019, they released their debut album Teeth the following day on 15 November.
Since then, they’ve been nominated for four Pacific Music Awards including Flava Best Pacific Group, Base FM NZ & Island Base Samoa Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist, Best Producer and Recorded Music NZ Best Pacific Music Album.
Alongside Church & AP, international Pacific star Olivia Foa’i is also in the running for four Pacific Music Awards. As the lead female singer and dancer for multi-award winning Polynesian band Te Vaka, she’s seen success for her contributions to Disney’s Moana soundtrack alongside her father Opetaia Foa’i, who received the Special Recognition Award for his contributions to the film at the 2017 Pacific Music Awards.
She released her debut solo album Candid in 2019 and has been nominated for Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist, SunPix Best Pacific Language, Best Producer (with her brother Matatia) and Recorded Music NZ Best Pacific Music Album.
Hip hop artist commonly referred to as ‘Poly Pac’ (in reference to West Cost hip hop legend Tupac Shakur), Poetik achieved huge success with his album HAMOFIED 2 EP last year and has been nominated for three awards at the 2020 Pacific Music Awards – NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist, Base FM NZ & Island Base Samoa Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist and Recorded Music NZ Best Pacific Music Album.
In a Pacific Music Awards first, Shepherds Reign are the first Polynesian heavy metal group to be nominated as finalists.
They’re up for Flava Best Pacific Group, SunPix Best Pacific Language and APRA Best Pacific Song for their single ‘Le Manu’ is inspired by the legend of an ancient Samoan warrior and is quite possibly the first heavy metal song sung in the Samoan language.
Recipients of the 2018 Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award Punialava’a are back this year, proving their staying power as icons of the Pacific music community. This year they’re nominated for both PMN Best Pacific Gospel Artist and SunPix Best Pacific Language for the album Sili’aga I Fa’atufugaga, Beyond Our Stories.
Having carved a place for herself within Auckland’s vibrant music community over the past six years as a proud, second generation Samoan New Zealander, Lou’ana’s voice carries the stature of an old soul. She released her debut solo material in 2019, is nominated for Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist, Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist and NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video, and has plans to release her first album this year.
Both Noah Slee and Lepani are nominated for Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist, as well as NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist, while rapper Melodownz is nominated for Base FM NZ & Island Base Samoa Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist for his song ‘No Mercy’ featuring American rapper Denzel Curry.
Other finalists include Lani Alo (SunPix Best Pacific Language, PMN Best Pacific Gospel Artist, APRA Best Pacific Song), Tomorrow People (Flava Best Pacific Group, Pato Entertainment Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist), General Fiyah (Pato Entertainment Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist, APRA Best Pacific Song), Bella Kalolo (Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist), JXN (PMN Best Pacific Gospel Artist), Jordan Gavet (Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist), Lomez Brown (Pato Entertainment Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist), Raggadat Cris (Pato Entertainment Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist), Disciple Pati (NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video), SWIDT (NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video), KINGS (Best Producer), Mikey Mayz (Best Producer), HP Boyz (PMN Best International Pacific Artist), Josh Tatofi (PMN Best International Pacific Artist) and Kaiit (PMN Best International Pacific Artist).
There will be six other awards announced for the 2020 Pacific Music Awards: Phillip Fuemana Most Promising Pacific Artist, NZ On Air Radio Airplay Award, NZ On Air Streaming Award, SunPix People’s Choice Award – Best Pacific Artist, Special Recognition Award and the Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award.
The winner of the Recorded Music NZ Best Pacific Music Album category is presented with an official Tui and recognised at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards later this year.
Pacific Music Awards finalists:
Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist:
Bella Kalolo - ‘Ends of the Earth’
Lou’ana - ‘Move Along’
Olivia Foa’i - Candid
NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist:
Lepani – ‘Pockets Full of Love’
Noah Slee- Twice
Poetik – HAMOFIED 2 EP
Flava Best Pacific Group:
Church & AP - Teeth
Shepherds Reign – ‘Le Manu’
Tomorrow People – ‘Fever feat. Fiji’
NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video:
Disciple Pati - ‘The Boy Who Cried Woman’
o Directed by Shae Stirling and Sapati Apa
Lou’ana- ‘Eye To Eye’
o Directed by Annie Duckworth
SWIDT - ‘Bunga
o Directed by Anahera Parata
APRA Best Pacific Song:
General Fiyah - ‘It’s You feat. Three Houses Down’
o Written by Charlie Pome’e and Nicholas Pome’e
Lani Alo - ‘Alo I Ou Faiva’
o Written by Metitilani Alo and Livingstone Efu
Shepherds Reign – ‘Le Manu’
o Written by Oliver Leupolu, Filivaa James, Joseph Oti-George, Gideon Voon, Shaymen Rameka
SunPix Best Pacific Language:
Lani Alo - ‘Alo I Ou Faiva’
Olivia Foa’i - Candid
Punialava’a – Sili’aga I Fa’atufugaga, Beyond Our Stories
Shepherds Reign – ‘Le Manu’
Base FM NZ & Island Base FM Samoa Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist:
Church & AP – Teeth
Melodownz – ‘No Mercy feat. Denzel Curry’
Poetik – HAMOFIED 2 EP
Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist:
Jordan Gavet - ‘Hesitation’
Lepani - ‘Pocket Full of Love’
Lou’ana - ‘Move Along’
Noah Slee - Twice
Pato Entertainment Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist:
General Fiyah - ‘Its You feat. Three Houses Down’
Lomez Brown - ‘Tell Me’
Raggadat Cris - I Swear
Tomorrow People - ‘Fever feat. Fiji’
PMN Best Pacific Gospel Artist:
Lani Alo - ‘Alo I Ou Faiva’
Punialava’a - Sili’aga I Fa’atufugaga, Beyond Our Stories
JXN - ‘Talako Dragon’
PMN Best International Pacific Artist:
HP Boyz - ‘Engineers’
Josh Tatofi - Ua Kui A Lawa
Kaiit - ‘Miss Shiney’
Recorded Music NZ Best Pacific Music Album:
Church & AP - Teeth
Olivia Foa’I - Candid
POETIK – HAMOFIED 2 EP
Best Producer
Church & AP - Teeth
o Producer: Dera Meelan
Kings - ‘Hit That’
o Producer: Kings
Mikey Mayz - ‘Wild People’
o Producers: Tia Drumma and EDY
Olivia Foa’i - Candid
o Producer: Matatia Foa'i