Ōtautahi-based children’s music duo, Leah and Siu, of Loopy Tunes Music, are excited to re-release their waiata/song, The Māui Dolphin.
“Why a re-release?”, you ask? Because it was the right thing to do! Check out their re-release story, below!
In 2021, the duo had the opportunity to be a part of the Funky Kids Radio SwitchOn Global Telethon. The Global Telethon committee asked children’s music artists from around the world to write a song about an endangered animal in their home country to contribute to an album being created for the event. The sisters chose to write about the endemic Māui dolphin, which features Siu's son, Vaiuli, as the rapping dolphin.
Last year, during meetings with the animator, who is currently working on the music video for the song, Leah and Siu discovered that a few facts in the waiata weren't entirely accurate! Their usual process of checking and re-checking lyrics in their waiata, especially their bilingual waiata, didn't happen with this release, as the time frame to produce it was very tight! In the rush to get the song out on time, the following errors were made during the Māui dolphin's rap:
"I surf through the waves of Te Tai Poutini, that's in the North Island, Te Ika a Māui". Te Tai Poutini is in fact, the West Coast of the South Island!
In the second verse, the Māui dolphin refers to his ancestor, the messenger fish, Paneiraira, who was in fact a taniwha who disguised himself as a whale, not a dolphin!
All-in-all a lesson well learned for them, to not rush the process! Checking and re-checking is essential, especially when using te reo Māori and incorporating te ao Māori in their waiata. Potentially, the duo could have left the song as is, however, the sisters said, “It is absolutely the right thing to do to re-record the dolphin rap and re-release the waiata to ensure the correct information is out there for our tamariki to learn”.
There's quite a difference between the two raps, as Vaiuli was 11 years old when he recorded the first one and was 13 years old when he re-recorded it. Those two years have made quite a difference to the vibe of the rap, vocal-wise, but he still did an awesome job!
Leah and Siu are grateful to have received funding from NZ On Air Music to create an animated music video for this song, as well. They had previously worked with award winning animator, Ross Payne, on another animated music video, for their waiata, Pōhutukawa Christmas Tree. They love Ross’ fun, comical style of animation and are excited for tamariki/children to enjoy the new music video, soon! The music video features the sisters as mermaids and their husbands as mermen - definitely worth a watch once it’s out!
The new-and-improved (and more correct) waiata was released Friday, 28 July, lyric video released Monday, 31 July, and the much-anticipated music video will be out later in the year!