Kia ora, and welcome to day 23 of Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa!

Today’s artist is another of my favourites, a staple of the NZ music scene for nearly two decades now.  Aaradhna made her debut in 2004 as a featured vocal on a track by Adeaze.  Her musical background was strongly informed by her ethnic background, having learned traditional Samoan songs with her mother and sung along with Bollywood songs with her father as a child.  Her debut album I Love You entered into the NZ top 20 immediately, and every release since has followed the trend, with her most recent album Brown Girl reaching number 1.  Brown Girl dealt among other subjects with the racism she has experienced in the NZ music scene, and later on in the same year she rejected an award at the VNZMAs for Best Urban/Hip-Hop artist, saying; "It feels like I've been placed in a category for brown people. We need a Soul/RnB category. And I feel like if you're putting a singer next to a hip-hop artist, that's not fair. I'm a singer, not a rapper. I'm not a hip-hop artist." She gave the award instead to upcoming hip hop group SWIDT, who she felt deserved the award, and the following year the VNZMAs implemented a Soul/R&B award.

You’ll like her if you like: Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, Solange

Similar NZ Artists: Ladi6 - R&B/Soul Estére - R&B/Soul Aaria - Hip-Hop/R&B Adeaze - R&B/Soul