Stan Walker’s ‘Māori Ki Te Ao’ Enters National Landmarks as Waiata 100 Voting Opens

Aotearoa has begun celebrating a century of musical excellence with the launch of the Waiata 100, a public countdown of the nation’s favourite songs. On Saturday, 4 July 2026, RNZ Life reporters revealed that more than 65,000 votes were cast by the public to determine the final rankings from a curated list of approximately 1,000 New Zealand tracks and 200 waiata Māori. Opening the countdown at number 100 is Stan Walker’s 2024 single, ‘Māori Ki Te Ao’. The reggae-inspired track, co-written by Walker and his uncle Donny Te Kanapu Anasta, was praised by voters for its powerful reo and its ability to promote Māori culture on a global stage. Listeners described the song as possessing a fierce and powerful feeling, with one voter noting that the track made them feel proud to be Māori. The countdown, which will release daily results until the top 50 and the overall winner are revealed on Friday, aims to capture the sound of the antipodal soul. Other early entries in the top 100 include the 1984 Dave Dobbyn sea shanty ‘Whaling’ by DD Smash at number 98, and the 1981 Split Enz classic ‘History Never Repeats’, written by Neil Finn, at number 96. According to RNZ, the initiative has invited New Zealanders to reflect on the melodic history of the past 100 years. The inclusion of ‘Māori Ki Te Ao’ highlights the continued significance of contemporary te reo Māori music in the national identity. As the countdown continues, the finalists represent a broad spectrum of the country's musical heritage, ranging from the rock of Wellington’s Phoenix Foundation to the early gold-selling records of Hello Sailor.