A group of siblings have released an EP blending music, movement and te reo Māori.
Rongo will convey the many talents and unique style of the Tuari Brothers, Tame-Hoake, Tatana, Hamiora, and their sister Ani-Piki.
The album is named after the god of peace, in a bid to encourage tamariki and rangatahi Māori to take heed of his teachings.
Their latest single, E Tama, which features on the album, "is talking about our boys and the values we want to install into them", said Tatana.
"The values of manaaki tangata (kindness), whakapono (faith), tumanako (hope) and aroha (love) and these values we want out boys to grow up with – not to be perfect men but to be good men to their partners to their nannies aunties and uncles – whoever," said Tame-Hoake.
Lead vocalist Hamiora says "with all our songs we want to influence our rangatahi as well, so going through that avenue of TikTok, we made a TikTok dance".
The Tuari brothers are managed by their sister, Ani-Piki Tuari, who says they were influenced by their parents at a young age.
"We are all classically-trained musicians. From the age of four I played the violin, Tatana the saxophone, Tame every instrument under the sun, and Hamiora started off in keys," said Hamiora.
"My mum was all about music, my dad was all about haka so it was natural for us to be raised in a world where those fused all the time and haka was the vehicle that taught us our te reo Māori and our ao Māori.
"That’s why te reo is so important to us, because it was part of understanding our identity, but so was music."
The siblings also wrote and composed a te reo musical titled Whakapaupākihi, an adaptation of the feats of three eponymous East Coast ancestors known as the three sons of Iranui.
Ani-Piki says they never foresaw just how big whakapaupākihi would become.
"We are already having conversations with Broadway which is so scary but amazing," she said.
"It just proves again that our stories and who we are as Māori is damn well good enough for anything and everything.
"The world wants authentic Māori indigenous stories."
Rongo will be available on all streaming platforms today.
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