Award-winning hip-hop artist, producer, youth mentor and Māori ambassador Tipene Harmer (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a force to be reckoned with.
For the past three years he’s resided in Whitianga, but now he’s moving back to his home region Te Matau a Māui Hawkes Bay, so his whānau can reconnect with their iwi, and he can be closer to his son.
I first met Tipene kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) in July 2021, when I interviewed him for The Mercury Bay Informer. I knew of him and was familiar with his track ‘West Side Hori’ that earned him multiple accolades, but that was about it. He invited me to the recording studio that he had set up at his whare and we got to talking. I was immediately struck by how community-minded, kaupapa driven and determined he was to create positive change wherever he lands, through music and Te Ao Māori. Towards the end of our kōrero, he played a couple of tracks from his album Heritage Trail released earlier that year, which he explained was his way of leaving a legacy for his mokopuna (grandchildren).
Before he played the song ‘Kupe’, he asked me what I knew of the origins of this region. Feeling a bit whakama (embarrassed) I said, not much at all. So he played the song, and I listened and learned.
The song explores the journey of the Polynesian navigator Kupe, his discovery of Aotearoa and his visit here to Te Whitianga nui a Kupe (Whitianga, Kupe’s Crossing). Tipene wrote the song on the banks of Taputapuatea (Mother Browns creek), which was named by Kupe himself after the sacred waters of his homeland. In just under 4 minutes, my knowledge of the region I now call home grew, and I was left with a newfound appreciation of how music can instil a sense of belonging and a connection to the whenua and history of a region.
I share this experience to illustrate the importance of Tipene’s time in Whitianga. Every project he has either created or been involved with in this community has come from a deep desire to uplift his people and celebrate Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview) through storytelling.
In 2020, he joined the Kura Wellbeing team at Mercury Bay Area School, drawing on his youth development experience and teaching Te Ao Māori concepts and tikanga (Māori protocol) to junior and senior students. In January 2022, he began a role with Whitianga Social Services that saw him create Poutama Music, a learning programme to help young people 16 yrs+ carve out their life path and explore their whakapapa (genealogy) through creative means. Here, he built a professional music production studio in a container, where local hip-hop/RnB emerging artists Chance Taiaroa Haddon (aka C33Y) and Te Paea Puha (aka Te Paea Seasons), recorded their respective debut albums with Tipene as their mentor and producer. Alongside this, he participated in the Whitianga Waka Ama Nationals, Hauraki Kapa Haka, Kaupapa Māori Mondays, connected with local iwi Ngāti Hei, and played multiple shows at the Monkey House Lounge & Cabaret and the Whitianga Hotel. He was also the driving force behind the Cyclone Gabrielle Hawkes Bay Relief Fundraiser in February 2023 which raised over $7.5k for flood victims in Hastings.
Upon return to Hawkes Bay, Tipene plans to continue growing the Poutama Music kaupapa after a successful stint here in Whitianga.
“I will still be keeping in touch with Te Paea and Chance as well, to support them with their music journey. They will both be touring with me this summer around Aotearoa, so we still have plenty of work to do!”
He says he will miss the whānau that he has built here, but there are plenty of plans to meet up down the track. “I want to give a special mihi to Whitianga Community Services Trust for their support in my role which enabled me to do some good in this community, and Molly and Kaspur at the Monkey House for supporting Poutama and providing such an amazing and safe place to enjoy music.”
In a predominantly Pākeha community like Mercury Bay, raising awareness of Māori culture isn’t easy. Tipene acknowledges that the ‘negative perceptions of Māori’ can get in the way of Pākeha and non-Pākeha people truly understanding and embracing this country’s unique indigenous culture. “True Māori history has been hidden for so long behind colonisation in an effort to marginalise Māori and discredit our origin stories. Today’s social media is tricky to navigate but the truth is out there for the people who really want it. It is disheartening, especially when people overseas embrace us more than the people that live in Aotearoa.”
If you listen to the tracks from his albums Tautoko, Heritage Trail, and We No Muck Around, it’s clear that Tipene doesn’t shy away from empowering others to embrace their roots. “I feel like what’s happening with the Treaty of Waitangi and this current government gives me plenty of motivation to hit bigger stages to reach and uplift more people through my music. I plan to head overseas at some point in the next year or two to share my music.”
Going forward, Tipene is hopeful for the future of Whitianga and the re-indigenisation of the region. “It would be great to have a youth hub filled with arts and technology, with skilled personnel to run it and learning outcomes co-created with youth. I also think that adult te reo Māori classes need to be established and resourced well for both teachers and people wanting to learn our language.”
For those keen to broaden their knowledge of Te Ao Māori, he has some simple advice. “Talk to the people in the know, on the marae, watch Māori TV, learn about Te Tīriti o Waitangi (the te reo Māori version), He Whakaputanga and Matike Mai, and learn from the mahi of Professor Makareta (Margaret) Mutu and the late Moana Jackson to get a grasp on how important the survival of Māori culture is.”
And of course add Tipene’s albums to your playlist!
Follow Tipene on: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube
Stream his music on: Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp
Tipene Summer Tour with support from C33Y & Te Paea Seasons: https://tipenemusic.com/
Words by Anusha Bhana
Artist Profile: Tipene
3 x album releases
14 million streams across digital platforms
7 singles charting in NZ Top 20
8 self-directed music videos (5.2m views)
7 x Waiata Māori Music awards finalist
2 x Waiata Māori Music awards (Best Māori Urban Artist 2019, Best Māori Hip Hop Album 2023)
2 x Apra Silver Scroll Top 5 Finalist (West Side Hori, Turangawaewae)
Māori Music Ambassador
NZ Music Commission Mentor in Schools
2 x national album tours
L.A.B Summer Tour 2023
SXSW Sydney 2023
Christchurch Hip-Hop Summit 2023
Here are the lyrics for ‘Kupe’ by Tipene
Kupe I heard that he came to chase a wheke (chase a wheke)
And the name that came from his wahine (his wahine)
This probably wouldn’t be our home at all (home at all)
Our home wouldn’t be called Aotearoa (called Aotearoa)
The first Polynesian navigators Innovators
Pūrākau passed down through the generations
They say around 900 AD
Doesn’t really matter if your ain’t Māori
Kupe the man be the true OG (Be the real OG, be the triple OG)
I know every tribe has kōrero about Kupe
But who really sure kaore au te mohio
(Who really knows who really knows)
All I know one thing’s consistent
The Ariki came from the distance
He was the first don’t get it twisted
Yeah I came like Kupe (like Kupe)
Journey on a Waka hourua that came right through here
(Right through here)
From Rangiatea Taputapuatea runs through here
(Runs through here)
Hawaiki nui Hawaikiroa
Hawaiki Pamamao
Indigenous Pao Pao Pao
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