Celebrating the winners of the 2021 Pacific Music Awards
Written by Admin on December 11, 2021
The Pacific music community celebrated another year of outstanding music at the 17th annual Pacific Music Awards.
The biggest night for Pasifika music the Pacific Music Awards – NZ took place at the Vodafone Events Centre last night with a live online ceremony. The event also delivered a visual and musical spectacle, opening the ceremony with a powerful tribute by Oceans Before Me.
The group paid homage to the Polynesian Panthers who celebrated their 50th anniversary this year. With Diggy Dupe , Church & AP and MELODOWNZ as nominees, awarding the Base FM & Island Base Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist Award was always going to be a tough one to award by Base FM managing director Jasmin Jazz Ziedan.
MELODOWNZ eventually emerged victorious, dedicating his award to those battling mental struggles. “All of us have been going through something, obviously because of the pandemic.” ”I know a lot of people out there are suffering silently; this is for them.” He also later took out the Best Pacific Male Artist Award also for his single ‘Fine’.
Best Pacific Album Award was awarded to Tree for the album ‘Mrs Tree‘ and Best Pacific Female Artist Award was Lou’ana for ‘Moonlight Madness’. Best Pacific Group was picked up by Team Dynamite for ‘Dragon Fruit‘ and the Best Pacific Song Award was non other than Jawsh685 and Jason Derulo for ‘Savage Love. A HUGE CONGRATUALTIONS TO ALL LAST NIGHTS WINNERS!! Relive the magic 
and check out all the winners and performances at http://tpplus.co.nz/…/watch-the-pacific-music-awards-2021/
Soul funk artist Lou’ana takes two wins with her seven-piece band this year. She won Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist and Best Producer with Nathan Judd for her debut album Midnight Madness.
This year’s Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award honoured Pacific music pioneer George ‘Fiji’ Veikoso. Fiji’s music captured hearts across the Pacific music scene with his blend of classic reggae, hip hop, RnB and jazz.
The awards provided a showcase of the best in Pacific music, with an incredible line up throughout the night.
Alongside the opening performance by Oceans Before Me, honouring the Polynesian Panthers, and the special tribute performance for Lifetime Achievement recipient George ‘Fiji’ Veikoso by Wellington artists Brownhill (Fiji’s live band when he performs in New Zealand), Wayno and Tomorrow People , there were finalist performances by Lepani, Emily Muli, Diggy Dupe, Hawkins,, Melodownz and Tree.
Full list of 2021 Pacific Music Awards Winners
Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist:
- WINNER: Lou’ana – Moonlight Madness
- Jordan Gavet – ‘Do Better’
- Tree – Mrs Tree
NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist:
- WINNER: Melodownz – ‘Fine’
- Hawkins – ‘Can’t Leave It Alone’/’Streetlights’/’Fireflies’/’I Couldn’t Tell It All’
- Kings – ‘Help Me Out’
Flava Best Pacific Group:
- WINNER: Team Dynamite – ‘Dragon Fruit ft. Louis Baker’
- Church & AP – At Thy Feet
- Shepherds Reign – ‘Aiga’
- STNDRD – Keep it STNDRD
NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video:
- WINNER: Tree – ‘Afio Ane Loa’
- Directed by Tree Manu & Quincy Filiga
- Kings – ‘Help Me Out’
- Directed by Kings
- Vallé – ‘Trip Advisor’
- Directed by Jadon Calvert
APRA Best Pacific Song:
- WINNER: Jawsh 685 – ‘Savage Love (Laxed-Siren Beat)’
- Written by Joshua Nani, Phil Greiss, Jason Derula, Jacob Kasher Hindlin
- Kings – ‘Help Me Out’
- Writen by Kingdon Chapple-Wilson, Matt Sadgrove, Sam Eriwata, Joel Latimer
- Team Dynamite – ‘Dragon Fruit ft Louis Baker’
- Written by Tony Sihamau, Lance Fepuleai, Harry Huavi, Louis Baker
SunPix Best Pacific Language:
- WINNER: Shepherds Reign – ‘Aiga’
- Loopy Tunes Preschool Music – ‘Umukisia’
- Samson Squad – ‘Taviri/Manea/Te Kuki Airani’
- Tree – Mrs Tree
Base FM & Island Base Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist:
- WINNER: Melodownz – ‘Fine’
- Church & AP – At Thy Feet
- Diggy Dupé – That’s Me, That’s Team
Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist:
- WINNER: Lepani – In the Moment EP
- Emily Muli – ‘Self Care’
- Lou’ana – Moonlight Madness
One Love Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist:
- WINNER: Victor J Sefo – ‘My Everything’/’Is It Bad’/’Want To’/’Like’
- Lomez Brown – The Feels & Groove EP
- Raggadat Cris – ‘Nay Sayers’
531pi Best Pacific Gospel Artist:
- WINNER: Marley Sola – ‘Lift Your Head High’
- Erakah – ‘How You Love Me’
- TY – ‘Never Too Far’/’Drive’
Niu FM Best International Pacific Artist:
- WINNER: Tenelle – ‘This Is X’
- DJ Noiz – ‘Amelia ft Kennyon Brown, Donnell Lewis, Victor J Sefo’
- J Boog – ‘Siva Mai feat Siaosi’
- Mr Cowboy – ‘Daddy Toe Sau’
Recorded Music NZ Best Pacific Music Album:
- WINNER: Tree – Mrs Tree
- Lepani – In the Moment EP
- Lou’ana – Moonlight Madness
Best Producer
- WINNER: Lou’ana – Moonlight Madness
- Producer: Nathan Judd
- Jawsh 685 – ‘Savage Love (Laxed-Siren Beat)’
- Producer: Jawsh 685
- Lepani – In the Moment EP
- Producers: Lepani, Rory Noble, Ambian & Sleo, Devin Abrams
Phillip Fuemana Award – Most Promising Pacific Artist
- WINNER: Emily Muli
NZ On Air Radio Airplay Award & NZ On Air Streaming Award
- WINNER: Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo – ‘Savage Love (Laxed-Siren Beat)
SunPix People’s Choice Award – Best Pacific Artist
- WINNER: Samson Squad
Ministry for Pacific Peoples Special Recognition Award
Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award
For more information: www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz
About the Pacific Music Awards:
In 2004 the Pacific Music Awards Committee (PMAC) was formed to realise a vision and the inaugural Pacific Music Awards debuted at Pasifika Festival in March 2005. Encouraged by the success of the awards the PMAC set about developing an annual event as a significant highlight of the New Zealand music industry calendar. The awards committee formed a Charitable Trust to organise and host the awards, and are driven by a simple core objective: to create and manage an event that acknowledges the success of Pacific artists, celebrates and promotes excellence in Pacific music and encourages young Pacific musicians to aspire to a higher level of achievement.
