Just2Māori is part of the new wave of Reggae/Dancehall vocalists, with songs like ‘Mana Wave’ (750,000+ plays), ‘Ngāti’ (520,000) and ‘Jump and Sway’ (420,000) building a solid audience, complemented with a solid following of 163,000 on TikTok. He also performs with JGeeks and internationally with Rei as a dancer and feature artist.

 

Just2Māori is an Aotearoa Māori artist from Kaitaia who works across music, dance and comedy, with te reo Māori as his first language. Born Jesse Hepi, he makes reggae and dancehall waiata in te reo Māori and English, and has become one of the more recognisable voices in a new wave of island-flavoured vocalists coming out of the country's far north.

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He broke through with "Mana Wave," a single built around the nationwide mana wave trend that went viral on TikTok and well beyond it, passing 750,000 streams and spending four separate runs on the EthnoCloud Global Top 40, peaking at number 18 in August 2024. Tracks like "Ngāti" and "Jump and Sway" each passed 420,000 plays, and he has grown an audience of more than 163,000 followers on TikTok by pairing the music with an effortless presence on camera as a dancer and comedian.

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With producer Baitercell (Chris Chetland) he released "Hoea Rā," a jungle and drum'n'bass track about boldly moving forward to a new place of belonging, channelling the adventure and triumph of the ocean-navigating ancestors who arrived in Aotearoa and waited for more waka to come.  "Do It Like That," cuts through with Pakōpakō collective, the duo of HUIA and Baitercell, whose catalogue of Māori dancefloor waiata fuses haka chants, te reo MCs and kaiwaiata singers with EDM basslines and live log drums. Other releases include "Ask 4 Much" and "Pā Girl" with Rei, and "Rapunzel" featuring TeRuia.

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Live, he is just as likely to be dancing as singing. He performs with Rei and tours internationally alongside Rei as both a dancer and feature artist, and his shows are built around high energy and getting the room involved. Through all of it, the throughline is simple: te reo Māori carried on a beat people can move to, delivered with the positivity he set out to spread from the start.