Moana and the Moahunters will be awarded the Classic Record Award at the 2019 Taite Music Prize for their 1993 album TAHI.
The Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award acknowledges music that continues to inspire long after its release.
TAHI features waiata combining hip-hop and pop with traditional Māori elements such as haka, poi and te reo Māori.
Songs in the album include Black Pearl, Rebel In Me and Back Where We Belong.
Black Pearl became an anthem for Māori women, reaching No.2 on the national charts and earning the band its first gold record.
Black Pearl video.
The group sang Rebel in Me to President Nelson Mandela when he was hosted at a special church service in Auckland.
The video for Peace, Love and Family featured The Neville Brothers of New Orleans.
Back Where We Belong was a gospel-inspired collaboration with Minister Rasul Muhammad of the Nation of Islam.
TAHI was re-released in 2002 and at the time was described by the New Zealand Listener as the defining moment in New Zealand music that year.
“Tahi provided the rhythms, with its use of sampled haka, stamps and poi underneath exquisite singing.”
The win follows group member Moana Maniapoto’s induction to the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
The Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao descendant came to prominence in the early 90s with her group.
The Classic Record award will be presented alongside the Taite Music Prize, at a ceremony in Auckland in April.
Tihore Mai.