New Zealand-based Singer/Songwriter Ria Hall used her Rules Of Engagement album to delve on the whole of her Māori heritage. The project was specifically inspired by New Zealand’s Battle of Gate Pa, which took place in 1864. Many of the social and cultural issues that loomed then are still universal themes which are explored by Hall on a canvas of soul, funk and trip-hop compositions – including archival recordings of Hall’s great-uncle, Turirangi Te Kani from 1968.
The project is stepped in Māori culture, so it’s only right that the video for her “Black Light” single also celebrates the visual aesthetic of famed New Zealand artist Ralph Hotere. Throughout the video, earth tone colors drown circles, triangles, and other symbols of Māori pride.
“Black Light” itself is a soulful, lively track in which Hall and Electric Wire Hustle member Mara TK celebrate Blackness with lines such as, “black rainbows breaking blue sky.” Hall will be further celebrating Hotere on the Rules Of Engagement visual art exhibition, a project she collaborated on with artist Tracy Tawhiao. The installation will be displayed in New Zealand and the United States come 2018.
You can stream Rules Of Engagement below and purchase here.
