Poi E | Pātea Māori Club

"Poi e, whakatata mai, Poi e, kaua he rerekē…"

Poi E spent four-weeks at number one, 22 weeks total in the charts, and was the only New Zealand song to chart on the 1984 year-end charts at number one, beating out international legends such as Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, and Bruce Springsteen (#2, #3, and #4 respectively). The song has sales of over 45,000 – triple platinum.
 
Written by linguist Ngoi Pewhairangi with music by Dalvanius Prime, the song was a way to encourage young Māori to be proud of being Māori in a way that young people were comfortable with.
 
It has become the most iconic song in te reo Māori from the ‘80s, and arguably of all time, seeing a resurgence in 2010 thanks to Taika Waititi’s Boy.

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