Page 44 - IB April 2023

Music

ROB RUHA CHAMPIONS TE REO

MAORI IN HIS SONGS

By Rowena Singh

“It’s really cool” was Maori musician,
Rob Ruha’s reaction to recently topping
the Pacific charts with his song Taera.
“I’m a little bit overwhelmed being
number one on the Pacific charts,” says
Ruha. “Taera is the celebration about
diversity. It’s a song for people to be com-
fortable enough to just be them; rock your
own style, no matter what.
“Just you be you, and the world will em-
brace you. That was the inspiration behind
writing that song. That song was written
in 30 minutes—it fell out of the heavens—
musically and lyrically, it all just came
together in 30 minutes. It’s a special song.
You know, sometimes, you have songs that
are written so quickly and without a lot of
intellectual thought, those are the ones

44 Islands Business, April 2023