Aotearoa Music Awards Announce 2022 Finalists

Today the Aotearoa Music Awards announce the 2022 finalists, with the winners to be announced on November 10^th.

With six nominations Rob Ruha emerges as the frontrunner for this year’s awards.

Rob is nominated for six awards: Recorded Music NZ Te Pukaemi o te Tau | Album of the Year for his third album Preservation of Scenery,  Te Waiata Tōtahi o te Tau | Single of the Year for ‘That’s Where I’ll Be’, Te Kaipuoro Takitahi Toa | Best Solo Artist, Te Māngai Paho Te Kaipuoro Māori Toa | Best Māori Artist, Te Kaipuoro Awe Toa | Best Soul/RnB Artist, and Te Māngai Paho Mana Reo award.

Additionally, under Rob’s mentorship, tira waiata Ka Hao are nominated for five Tūī including  Single of the Year and Te Māngai Paho Mana Reo award for ’35’ (ft. Rob Ruha), as well as Te Roopu Toa | Best Group, Best Roots Artist, and Best Māori Artist for their debut album Ka Hao: One Tira, One Voice. 

Summer staple L.A.B are back again after winning four Tūī at the 2021 Aotearoa Music Awards including Recorded Music NZ Te Pukaemi o te Tau | Album of The Year for their fourth album L.A.B. IV.

This year, they’re back and hoping to recreate history. The group are nominated for the same four Tūī including Recorded Music NZ Te Pukaemi o te Tau | Album of the Year for their fifth album L.A.B V, Te Waiata Tōtahi o te Tau | Single of the Year for ‘Mr Reggae’, Te Roopu Toa | Best Group and Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa | Best Roots Artist.

Other 2022 Aotearoa Music Award finalists include Fat Freddy’s Drop (Te Roopu Toa | Best Group for ‘WAIRUNGA’), Jackson Owens (Te Kaipuoro Awe Toa | Best Soul/RnB Artist), , CHAII (Te Kaipuoro Hipihope Toa | Best Hip Hop Artist), Christoph El Truento and Lucky Lance (Te Kaipuoro Hipihope Toa | Best Hip Hop Artist), Diggy Dupé, choicevaughan and P. Smith (Te Kaipuoro Hipihope Toa | Best Hip Hop Artist), The Black Seeds (Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa | Best Roots Artist), Julien Dyne (Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Electronic Artist), LEAPING TIGER (Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Electronic Artist), TALI (Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Electronic Artist), Stan Walker (Te Kaipuoro Māori Toa | Best Māori Artist), Troy Kingi (Mana Reo Award).

Check out the Aotearoa Music Awards website for more on this years finalists!