This 1982 novelty song was made by Dalvanius for a fee. A local take on the Stars on 45 medley single concept, the song (and video) pay tribute to the party singalongs of Dalvanius’ childhood; he told Murray Cammick in a 2001 Real Groove profile, "I was asked whether I was going to put my name on it and I said ‘f**k off'." When the song made the top five of the local charts, he "nearly dropped dead". It was a stepping stone to Dalvanius forming Maui Records – which got off to a flying start when te reo-meets-breakdancing classic ‘Poi E’ became a huge hit in 1984.

In a Mika-inspired cross cultural collision, this Māori music and comedy group blends traditional Māoritanga with the metrosexual world of fashion and beauty. Founded by former C4 presenter Jermaine Leef in 2010, they launched with this video which debuted on YouTube and received 100,000 views in 10 days. From Queen Street to the beach and bush, their appearance moves from Outkast-inspired nerd chic to a style best described as high camp haka; and boy band posturing mixes with lyrics tackling what it means to be a modern 'Māori boy' (“I play my Nintendo everyday”).

This uplifting promotional clip is as famous as the chartbusting song. Accompanied by Jo, the breakdancing guide, for a tour of Patea and surrounds, the Patea Māori Club are captured "bopping and twirling like piwakawaka": at the local marae, in Wellington's Manners Mall, and on Patea’s main street, where milk tankers and sheep trucks pass by the Aotea canoe remembrance arch. So does the impresario himself: Dalvanius does a pūkana out a car window. In 2010 'Poi E' re-entered the charts thanks to Taika Waititi hit Boy. A documentary on the song was released in 2016.

More than 20 years on, 'Treaty' remains as infectious as it does relevant, mixing haka, hip hop and funk to present a message on Māori sovereignty. Channelling the colours of the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, the video creates a fitting backdrop for lyrics delivered via the stirring vocals of Moana and the Moahunters, verses by rapper Bennett Pomana (Upper Hutt Posse, Dam Native), and elements of traditional performance. According to director Ross Cunningham, the set design was inspired by Ralph Hotere illustrations from a book of Hone Tuwhare poems.

This was the first music video funded by New Zealand on Air. The song is a colourful plea for Māori youth to preserve their culture by learning the reo — it also doubles as a handy guide to Māori pronunciation. Director Kerry Brown created vibrant animated backgrounds to match the song’s hip-hop beats. The cameo appearances include Moana Maniapoto’s father, MC OJ and the Rhythm Slave, Mika and various crew members. The Moahunters were Mina Ripia (who went on to her own act Wai) and Teremoana Rapley (from Upper Hutt Posse, who went on to manage King Kapisi).

The title track from Moana and the Moahunters’ gold-selling first album celebrates wahine and Māori cultural pride, via what singer Moana Maniapoto called “haka house music”. The fusion of traditional Māori sounds with contemporary grooves got to number nine in the charts. It was co-written with Andrew McNaughton and features vocalist Hareruia Aperahama (‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf’). Kerry Brown's video cuts the group singing together with kapa haka (the acclaimed Te Waka Huia) and whānau playing. Brown also directed the video for the group’s groundbreaking ‘AEIOU’.

This militant debut from rappers Upper Hutt Posse marked New Zealand’s first hip hop record. Dean Hapeta announces himself with a history lesson proudly namechecking the great Māori warrior chiefs of the 19th Century — Hōne Heke, Te Rauparaha, Te Kooti — and their Māori Battalion successors. ‘E Tu’ is also a personal manifesto, with promises to preach the truth but not to brag or wear gold chains. Hapeta's down the barrel delivery carries a degree of confrontation rarely seen from New Zealand musicians up to that point.

On this song from her debut EP, bilingual Wellington singer/songwriter Ria Hall marries her respect for tradition and her use of te reo and kapa haka to the very contemporary beats of producer Riki Gooch (Eru Dangerspiel, Trinity Roots). This mix of old and new is echoed in director Jessica Sanderson's video. It casts Hall as four characters drawn from mythology to ward off the evil of Babylon and is set against a strikingly modern dreamscape of video effects, imagery and lighting. It won Best Video by a Māori Artist at the 2012 Māori Music Awards.

“I hear the roooolling thunder”. Sir Howard Morrison’s classic bilingual rendition of the popular hymn comes from an October 1981 Royal Variety Performance, in front of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Morrison's performance  at Auckland's St James Theatre of 'Whakaaria Mai' marked a comeback for the veteran entertainer, who had been out of the spotlight working in Māori youth development. Released as a single a couple of months later, it topped the charts for four weeks, and led to the commissioning of a televised Howard Morrison Special in 1982.

This heartfelt 1981 hit was the first song sung in te reo to top the NZ singles chart. It was written by Te Arawa elder George Tait for his cousin Deane Waretini, who recorded it with musicians he could only afford to pay in fried chicken. Tait based the melody on Italian Nini Rosso’s 1965 hit ‘Il Silenzio’, but the lyric refers to the linking of Pākehā and Māori cultures at the time of the construction of the Mangere Bridge. The TVNZ video features the less imposing but rather more picturesque valve tower turret, at Wellington’s historic Karori reservoir.