Teremoana Rapley

Tere Veronica Rapley (born 1973), generally known as Teremoana Rapley, describes herself as a 'Black Moana Sovereign Storyteller'. Many consider her a hugely influential New Zealand hip-hop artist, musician, television presenter and television producer, best known for her rhymes and vocals in both solo and collaborative work and her significant roles in the 1990s with Upper Hutt Posse and Moana and the Moahunters.

In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Rapley was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and television.

Biography Rapley joined hip hop group Upper Hutt Posse in 1987, aged 14. She sang on the group's early tracks, including "Stormy Weather" and "Ragga Girl" and featured on the group's 1989 album Against the Flow.

In 1989, Rapley joined Moana Maniapoto's hip hop and pop trio Moana and the Moahunters. The group released two albums, Tahi and Rua and had chart success with many singles, including "Black Pearl", "A.E.I.O.U." and "Peace, Love & Family". Rapley's work with Moana and the Moahunters saw her awarded Most Promising Female Vocalist at the 1992 New Zealand Music Awards. Rapley has spoken of avoiding the commercial music drive to view people and their music as products. She has said "I'm not a product...I make music, music is part of me, there is no separation from self."

In the 1990s, Rapley also provided guest vocals on tracks from other artists, including "Sitting by the Telephone" by Unitone Hi Fi, "Body Rhymes (Protect Yourself)" by MC OJ and Rhythm Slave, "Horified One" by Dam Native and "In Summer" by David Parker.

In 1995, Rapley turned her attentions to a solo career, releasing the singles "Beautiful People" and a cover of the Nina Simone song "Four Women", and was awarded Best Female Vocalist at the 1996 New Zealand Music Awards.

Rapley continued to work from her home studio she had set up since 1992 that started with a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder and Dr.T's music software on Atari 1040ST. She has composed title music for television programmes, commercial music work for Air NZ and Coca-Cola as well as working on tracks for her upcoming album.

Rapley has worked with Bill Urale (stage name: King Kapisi), who is also her husband. She has featured on his singles "Saboteur" and "Lollipop". She also provided guest vocals on the track "Waka," from Che Fu's 1998 debut solo album 2b S.Pacific.

Rapley is also known for her television presenting work. In 1995 she joined long-running New Zealand children's television show What Now as a field reporter. From 1996 to 2001, Teremoana was a presenter on TV2's Māori youth magazine programme Mai Time. Around 2000-2001 she interviewed musicians working for Selector magazine.

After the birth of her fourth and youngest child, Rapley moved permanently behind the camera holding many roles including director, camera operator, editor, scriptwriter, production manager and producer. In 2015, after 10 years of service, Rapley resigned as a producer at the Maori Television Service in Auckland, New Zealand having produced over 1400 television programmes for the station and gained over 3000 production credits to her name. In 2021, Teremoana Rapley featured in a Stories Seldom Told podcast about unconscious bias.

In February 2022, Rapley was diagnosed with an aggressive autoimmune disorder, and later that year, in August and October, she was found to have two inoperable brain tumours. She publicly announced her medical conditions in an interview in April 2024.

At the 2024 Taite Music Prize ceremony she was awarded the Independent Spirit Award.

Discography Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album NZ 1995 "Beautiful People" — Non-album single "Four Women" — Non-album single 2003 "Life" (with Submariner and Mark de Clive Lowe) — Non-album single 2011 "Purerehua" — He Rangi Paihuarere "Dreamswimmer" — Ihimaera "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

Year Title Performing with Peak chart positions Album NZ 1992 "Homegirl" Riot Riddum Sound System — Deepgrooves "Body Rhymes (Protect Yourself)" MC OJ & Rhythm Slave — What Can We Say? "In Summer I Fall" David Parker 35 Release 1993 "Sitting by the Phone" Unitone Hifi — Non-album single 1995 "Horified One" Dam Native — Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted 1996 "Love Has No Name" Babble — Ether 2001 "Saboteur" King Kapisi — Savage Thoughts "U Say" Del Rey System — Del Rey System 2006 "Lollipop" King Kapisi — Dominant Species 2010 "Superhuman" (featuring The Mint Chicks) — Hip Hop Lives Here 2012 "Won't Stop, Can't Stop" — 2013 "Crush" (featuring Rakaa Iriscience) — 2014 "Down with the King" (featuring Mr Thing) — "Welcome Back" — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.