As we enter Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori | Māori Language Week, Te Reo Māori waiata have surged into Recorded Music’s Official New Zealand Music Charts | Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua O Aotearoa.
As expected, the recently launched Top 10 Te Reo Māori Singles | Ngā Waiata Kairangi I Te Reo Māori o Te Rārangi 10 o Runga is filled with new waiata reo with iwa | nine fresh entries on the back of Waiata Anthems Week. The only survivor from last week is Six60’s Pepeha which still holds the top spot.
But Reo Māori is evident on every chart this week. The Hot 20 NZ Singles | Waiata Takitahi, Wera Rawa 20 o Aotearoa (essentially a ‘viral’ or ‘trending’ chart covering all platforms) includes 10 waiata reo and waiata rua reo, including wha | four of the tino takirima.
Ka Hao and Rob Ruha take out the kotahi | #1 position with their new track 35. It’s the fastest-rising local release of the last ra whitu | seven days, based on a combination of sales, streams and radio play. The Gisborne rangatahi collective's debut EP is out next week.
Te Reo is in play in the main Hot 40 Singles | Waiata Takitahi, Wera Rawa 40, even in a week with a brand new Drake album and the return of ABBA after a long absence. There are eight new Te Reo tracks in the 40, including two (Kao Hao and Sons Of Zion) in the tino tekau.
In the Official Top 20 NZ Albums | Kōpaki I Te Rārangi Kōpaki Motuhake 20 o Aotearoa LOOP’s Kono EP enters at #8 and Lorde’s new Te Ao Mārama EP lands at #9 (despite only being eligible for 24 hours). Both albums also enter the Official Top 40 Albums | Kōpaki I Te Rārangi Motuhake 40 o Runga at #24 and #27 respectively.
Digging into the data, Recorded Music NZ Chart Compiler Paul Kennedy says Te Reo Māori releases chalked up an amazing 1.3 million streams in New Zealand last week.
Of all the New Zealand music streamed on Spotify and Apple Music last week, waiata reo made up an all-time high 8.71%. It also accounted for nearly a third of all the New Zealand music sold as downloads this week.
The surge in the charts looks to continue this coming week too, with the release of a special physical edition of Six60's current chart-topper Pepeha and the arrival of the next round of new releases including new tracks from Moana And The Tribe, Stan Walker, Dave Dobbyn, Hamo Dell, Hollie Smith, Sianne, Kings, Theia and others.
The Official New Zealand Music Charts | Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua O Aotearoa are released weekly and can be found here.