"Poi E" | ||||
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Single by Patea Māori Club | ||||
from the album Poi E | ||||
A-side | "Poi E" | |||
B-side | "Poi-E Instrumental" | |||
Released | October 1983 | |||
Format | 7-inch single | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | Māori music / hip hop | |||
Length | 3:57 | |||
Label | Maui Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ngoi Pēwhairangi, Dalvanius Prime | |||
Producer(s) | Dalvanius Prime | |||
Patea Māori Club singles chronology | ||||
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"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.
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." 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".
The song was written by Māori linguist Ngoi Pēwhairangi; the music was scored by Dalvanius Prime. Pewhairangi's intent in writing the song in such a way was to promote Māori ethnic pride among young Māori 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.
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 Patea Māori Club toured the United Kingdom, playing at the London Palladium and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as giving a Royal Command Performance.