Kerikeri singer, songwriter and actor Troy Kingi has won the award for best Māori pop album/Kaipūoru Māori in the 2018 Waiata Māori Music Awards.
The prize was awarded on the strength of Kingi's latest album, the memorably titled Shake That Skinny Ass All the Way To Zygertron.
Kingi was named male solo artist of the year in the same awards in 2017, and is one of five finalists in next month's Silver Scrolls, New Zealand's premier songwriting competition, for a track off the same album called Aztechknowledgey.
Waipu thrash metal band Alien Weaponry also saw success in the 2018 Waiata Māori Music Awards with a win in the category for best music video by a Māori artist/Ataata Māori Hira o te Tau for their earth-shaking single Kai Tangata.
The 11th annual awards announced in Hastings last Friday were dominated by ''haka soul'' musician Rob Ruha, who took home four trophies from seven nominations: Best Māori male solo artist/Manu Tīoriori Tāne Autaia, best Māori traditional album/Kōpae Mōteatea Hira, best Māori urban artist/Kaipūoro Māori-Noho-Taone Autaia and best song by a Māori artist/Waiata Māori.
