Hawke’s Bay artist Makayla drops debut single with Six60’s Massive Records

Hawke's Bay-based artist Makayla has released her debut single Nature of Love on Six60's Massive Records label.

• Hawke’s Bay local Makayla released her debut single Nature of Love on Six60’s label on Valentine’s Day.
• The song blends pop, soul, R&B and reggae, and explores the challenges and truths of love.
• Makayla, of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga and Te Whakatōhea descent, aims to share Māori culture globally.

A young Hawke’s Bay woman has released her loved-up debut single on Six60’s record label on Valentine’s Day, calling it the best gift she could have hoped for.

Nature of Love finds 21-year-old Napier resident Makayla blending pop melodies with soaring soul and R&B, infectious background vocals, and a grooving reggae-tinged production, crafting a vibrantly tender track that speaks to what it means to know a wāhine’s heart.

Makayla composed the song at a songwriting camp in Mangawhai alongside Six60, Norwegian duo Nico and Vinz, and Matt Sadgrove from Sons of Zion. Makayla says the “vibes that everyone put into the song have come through”.

“The song is about the different aspects of love and how it can be challenging and there are hardships, but it’s how you make it out,” Makayla said.

“It’s also challenging whether ‘your person’ can deal with the truth of love, the nature of love.”

Hawke's Bay-based artist Makayla has released her debut single Nature of Love on Six60's Massive Records label.

Signed to Six60’s Massive Records label, this is Makayla’s first major single with the label and she says she couldn’t have thought of anyone better to back her up as an emerging artist.

“They’re an amazing team,” Makayla said.

“I can feel that they are all so genuine and they just want to help their artists grow, and it’s just beautiful that they want to give the help they never really had when they first began.”

Of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga and Te Whakatōhea descent, Makayla calls herself a proud Māori wāhine, and says she will carry it with her for the rest of her life.

“As an artist, I want to share my culture wherever I go and hopefully bring it far and wide over the world,” she said.

Makayla will be opening for Six60 when they play at Shed 530 Estate Winery on October 25. She feels as if 2025 is her year.

“The plan is to put out another song, hopefully very soon and then we just want to find as many opportunities as we can to kind of get my music out there,” she said.

“I’m working very, very hard and grabbing any opportunity that I can and I hope to perform a lot and maybe even have my own small little tour and play somewhere in the Bay, you never know.

“I just want to keep striving to be authentic and relatable to anyone who needs that kind of person.”

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.