'Ohia' The Latest Te Reo Māori Single from REI
This Afrobeat and Major Lazer
inspired banger. Centred around a late night,
waipiro fueled pillow talk with a partner,
‘Ohia’ delves into the emotional push
and pull state of relationships. He talks of his inability
to open up and show emotion in the culture of
toxic masculinity that can
negatively affect our tāne. This is a culture where men
feel that they need to bottle up their emotions to always be
a pillar of strength in their communities.
But ultimately, Rei opens up to his partner, unashamedly
letting his emotions known, showing that
strength and leadership can also come from
vulnerability.
With producer credits from
platinum Ngā Puhi producer D. Love (with
millions of streams under his belt)
‘Ohia’ was also mixed/mastered by
Kogs Chris Chetland (who has mastered Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha
and Snoop Dogg).
Rei has been behind a number of Te Reo Māori hits in 2018, producing both of Maimoa’s singles, ‘Hurō’ and ‘Kawea’. He also released his first ever fully Te Reo EP, called ‘Rangatira’ which was nominated for Best Urban Album at the Waiata Māori Music Awards and was nominated for Best Engineer at the NZ Music Awards. 2018 also saw Rei’s first breakthrough radio hit, ‘Good Mood’, which achieved heavy playlisting on major stations in NZ.
It also hit no.1 on the US Viral Spotify chart in December and has over 1.6 million streams.
With 3 Māori Music
Awards, 4 NZ Music Awards
nominations a #1 iTunes Hip Hop album and
a #1 iTunes World music album
Rei is definitely making a name for himself
in the music industry.
He also co-won
Best Emerging
Manager at the 2018 MMF
Awards.
‘Ohia’ is the latest single from Rei’s upcoming 2nd Te Reo EP, coming soon.