Stan Walker's trademark powerful vocals could see him nominated for best original song at the Oscars — a first for the Kiwi artist.
The 33-year-old's single I Am features on the soundtrack of director Ava DuVernay's harrowing drama Origin, which is already tipped as an Oscar contender.
The film follows journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson as she writes her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which looks at the caste system and racism around the world.
The music video for I Am, released yesterday, was shot in locations around Aotearoa and features te reo Māori lyrics.
Walker (Tūhoe, Ngāi TeRangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pūkenga, Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue and Ngai Tahu) said it was important for him to include aspects of his culture in the song.
"I Am is a declaration — not just who I am, but a declaration for anybody who has ever felt like they don't know who they are," he said.
"Everyone has a different story, and some people are ashamed because their cultures have been attached to negative things."
He said the "blood that really pumps through the song is the Māori words and techniques".
"As the composition builds to the choruses, the song shifts into te reo Māori," he explained.
DuVernay, who also wrote and produced the film, first came across Walker after hearing his rendition of Ultralight Beam by Kanye West.
"I watched it four times, back to back. I jumped online and blessedly, we had a producer pal of mine, Chelsea Winstanley, in common," she said.
The Oscar nominee said she sent a message to Winstanley online and "24 hours later, I was on the phone with Stan Walker".
This isn't DuVernay's only Kiwi connection, however.
The BAFTA winner shot her science fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time — starring the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw — here in 2017.
Origin will premiere in the US on December 8, followed by a worldwide release on January 19, 2024.
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