08 June 2023 - 0 Comments

Aotearoa hip-hop artist Tipene drops the official video for Freedom, taken from his We No Muck Around EP, directed by acclaimed director Shae Sterling.

Stream the video HERE
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Tipene’s passion is to bring an understanding of te ao Māori (Māori worldview) in his quest to uplift, empower and 're-indigenise' Māori through the power of his music. This is no-more evident than in Freedom, “I feel like I’m Māori more than a Kiwi”.

This video shows the journey which Tipene himself is on, a journey which will be familiar to indigenous peoples across the globe. Forced to the back of the classroom, Tipene is now reclaiming his Māori heritage, as seen through the video.

“Freedom challenges the idea of the freedom to speak, think, feel and express oneself in a natural way in Aotearoa today. This track highlights the impacts of Colonisation through mainstream education and religion that undermine our native knowledge and beliefs as a form of control,” he says.

“This is the story of a young Māori being stereotyped as “dumb”, failing in mainstream school, then making connections with his Māori heritage through listening to stories from his elders on his marae.

Although te reo Māori was a barrier for me, the mana and skill level of my elders inspired my passion to become an orator myself to help bridge the gap for other Māori experiencing these challenges,” he says.

“I want to encourage people to challenge the system that needs to be accountable for manipulating our native history, knowledge and beliefs which I believe will be a positive move towards achieving true freedom,” he says.

‘Freedom’ is the third collaboration between Tipene & Shae Sterling, all centered around Tipene’s We No Muck Around EP. Written in the small Coromandel town of Whitianga, the EP was written, recorded, mixed and mastered in less than a month. We No Muck Around is not only the title for the EP, but a prevailing theme throughout the entire process - not mucking around, and getting the job done.

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