Song from both worlds

New Zealand singer-songwriter Maisey Rika is currently touring Australia performing songs from her debut album Tohu. Often compared to Indie Arie and Sade, Rika sings in both Maori and English because she was brought up in “both worlds”. Rika is from a small town near Whakatane and attributes her Maori heritage and her family to inspiring her music. “I come from a musical family where we always have a guitar around and everyone will gather and sing around the guitar,” she said. Rika began singing at a professional level at 13 and her first collection of traditional Maori songs, E Hine, went double platinum and won Best Maori Language Album at the New Zealand Music Awards.