A new single by Ngāti Huia singer Rei McDougall is tipped for big things after a successful opening weekend.
His song Good Mood was added to Spotify's New Pop Sounds, Urban Flavour and New Music Fridays in Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia, as well as Apple Music's Best of The Week playlist.
Rei says it's an upbeat track with a lot of energy and has a positive vibe to it.
“So hopefully it makes people feel just that little bit happier. I hope people have a little laugh at my kiwi references too, such as my 'Jake The Muss' line,” he says.
Rei, who has written numerous songs in te reo Māori, wrote the Good Mood in March this year when he was “in a pretty good space mentally.”
“I had my busiest summer of festival shows yet, and was comfortably paying my rent with my music money. I was also happy with how my te reo music was being received at these gigs.”
Now Rei is working on the video clip for the song.
“I've got some more fully te reo tracks in the works too of course. Other than that, I'm producing some tracks for other artists too, including the next two Maimoa singles.”
Rei is also a finalist at the upcoming Waiata Māori Music Awards for the third year in a row.
He says a highlight at the awards is seeing the variety of Māori music showcased.
“From te reo heavy metal all the way to more traditional Māori music. The way I've been accepted by the Māori music community has definitely encouraged me to be confident in my identity and in releasing my first te reo EP Rangatira too.
In the future Rei hopes to “keep on building and spreading my kaupapa of rangatiratanga, encouraging young people to be chiefs of their own environments and to take control of their future.
“I'd love to go on tour very soon also. I'm just trying to build up enough of a fan base to make that feasible.”
Rei is yet to release another English album and te reo Māori EP.
Good Mood can be streamed and downloaded here.