18 September 2020 - 0 Comments

Inka Mbing is the stunning guest vocalist on Toku Reo, a music collaboration with the singer from the Atayal tribe, one of 16 indigenous tribe in Taiwan. Inka defied the taboo on women not singing traditional songs and had been punished – like Maori - for speaking their native language in school. Now she is celebrated for helping keep the language alive.

Moana Maniapoto and producer Paddy Free visited Inka and started a conversation with her about the loss of language and its revitalisation in Aotearoa/New Zealand. They recorded the song Toku Reo, based on the lyrics by Scotty Morrison, sung in Atayal and Maori, both of which belong to the Austronesian language family. Toku Reo pays tribute to the language of both cultures and is released worldwide on Friday, September 18th, 2020.

Toku reo, toku ohooho
My Language, my awakening
Tohu reo, toku oho kaikakau
My Language, my strength

Mai e te tipua, mai e te tawhito, mai e te kahui o nga ariki,
In the beginning, before there was Light, under the cloak of the gods

Mai e tawhiri atu ki nga atua i te ora kua hanga mai o te ao i te putaketanga nei o tatou reo
From that ancient time when the ancestors and gods created a means to speak to each other,
Out of the darkness and their chatter in the Void, came…

Reo Waiti, Reo Waita
This Language of Sweetness,this Language of Eloquence
Reo i wehi mai e nga matua ko Ranginui e tu nei
This Language used by sacred forces to plot and plan the separation of Rangi Sky Father

Toku Reo is the second single to be released from the forthcoming album from Moana & the Tribe, Ono.

Moana & theTribe - Toku Reo Producer / Director: Vinnie Carter Filmed in Aotearoa and Taiwan with the help of Te Mangai Paho

Next: Stretch unveils new single 'I Know You've Been Bad' from forthcoming album 'Our Dreams Are Changing'

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