AEIOU

Moana and the Moahunters, Music Video – 1991

AEIOU was the first music video funded by New Zealand on Air. Largely ignored by commercial radio, 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, Mika, and MC OJ and Rhythm Slave. 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 standard response from radio back in those days is probably what it's like now days: it doesn't fit the format. And so that was a bit of a shock to us, because we were thinking 'hey what's wrong with this, this is actually us!'
– Moana Maniapoto in an interview with Radio New Zealand, 26 March 2019