Chief, Rangatira, Mixed, Rapper… we all have our definitions of ourselves and those that are given to us. Reiʻs album ʻA Place to Standʻ is both personal and universal. Itʻs beautifully produced with content that rides the line between reverse colonisation, inspiration, hiphop, culture and a passion to produce a dope album.

If Rei is an example of upcoming Kiwi artists, the future looks bright. From creating music the last 10 years to present his multi genre sound, Rei is on the cutting edge and is influenced by our amazing global music community. Mostly by Hip hop from major US rappers but with dashes of Dancehall, UK Grime, Future Bass and Reggae.

What makes this artist different, is the elements of Māori language, haka and kiwi slang in his tunes, as well being a carefully produced audio experience. It also sounds BIG in a stadium or club setting!

Rei has already released a number of tracks from this album such as ʻThe Chief Speechʻ and ʻOut Dancingʻ. ʻA Place to Standʻ shows his diversity as an artist with ʻMixʻ, an electro acoustic ballad (with Rei on guitar), a lot of club bangers such as ʻHātiʻ and ʻDeepʻ and a few not-so-cheesy love songs like ʻBasicsʻ.

“There’s some of your stock-standard rap ‘I’m gonna take over the world’ type themes in the album but I try to keep that to a minimum. Instead I try and convey the message that people can become chiefs of their own environment, that they can empower themselves to take control of their future… I’m working pretty damn hard to take control of mine.”

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