NZ Awards, Taite Music Prize

Hip-hop and R&B group Nesian Mystik lead the nominations for the Polynesian Blue Pacific Music Awards.

The act – whose Maori, Tongan, Samoan and Cook Island ancestry has created a distinctive Polynesian sound – is up for best group, urban artist, album (99 AD) and song (“Sun Goes Down”). Soul singer Ladi6 and traditional Samoan-inspired Pacific Underground were each named in three. Winners are announced at Manukau City’s TelstraClear Pacific venue May 28.

Ladi6 Lands Taite Music Prize

Hip-hop and soul singer Ladi6’s second album, The Liberation Of, took the second Taite Music Prize, at a ceremony in Auckland.

The NZ$10,000 prize was named after local music journalist Dylan Taite. Ladi6, real name Karoline Tamati, beat out prominent acts The Naked and Famous, Julia Deans, The Phoenix Foundation, Die! Die! Die! and Street Chant.

The Liberation Of was recorded in Berlin with her producer and DJ Parks and German beatmaster Sepalot. The cash prize will fund a tour and CD release in Europe and the UK.