Troy Kingi (born 1984) is a New Zealand musician and actor from Northland, first receiving media attention when he appeared in the 2013 film '' Mt. Zion''. Kingi is a multi-instrumentalist, is known for his 10/10/10 project: the plan to release 10 albums in 10 genres across 10 years.

Biography

Troy Kingi was born 1 June 1984 in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, and was raised in Rotorua,

Te Kaha Te Kaha is a small New Zealand community situated in the Bay of Plenty near Ōpōtiki. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "the rope" for . The full name of Te Kaha is Te-Kahanui-A-Tikirākau. Te Kaha is a ...

and

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is a town in the Bay of Islands, in the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the head of Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the Paci ...

. Kingi is of

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

and

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi (tribe) located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū. History Early history During the 17th ce ...

descent. He began learning guitar at

Te Aute College Te Aute College (Māori language, Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams (missionary), Samuel Williams, an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary, and ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

, and formed his first band, Toll House, at

Kerikeri High School Kerikeri () is a town in the Bay of Islands, in the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the head of Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the Pacif ...

. Toll House entered the

Smokefreerockquest Smokefreerockquest (SFRQ) is an annual music competition for intermediate and high school bands throughout New Zealand. The first Rockquest was held in 1988, and was organised by Christchurch radio station C93FM as a local event. The following ...

, winning the regional Northland competition. Since the early 2000s, Kingi has lived in Kerikeri. He studied at the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, and on returning to Kerikeri fronted a number of short-lived bands, including Mongolian Deathworm, Kingkachoo, Troy Kingi and the Tigers, Full Moon Street and Typhoon Fools, while also working as a scuba instructor and fruit picking in Kerikeri orchards. Kingi's work with Typhoon Fools gained him more widespread attention, and led to him being cast in the film '' Mt. Zion'' (2013). Kingi also featured on the film's soundtrack, and after the film's release, toured New Zealand with the film's lead actor

Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh season of ''Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Mus ...

. Kingi released his first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

in 2013. His appearance in ''Mt. Zion'' led to further work as an actor, including ''The Pā Boys'' (2014) and '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' (2016). Kingi collaborated on the

song "

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

" (2014), a song created part of a

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori () is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to revive the Māori langu ...

project for a song sung in

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

to reach number one in New Zealand, something that had not been seen since

Pātea Māori Club Pātea Māori Club is a New Zealand cultural group and performance act formed in the South Taranaki District, South Taranaki town of Patea, Pātea in 1967 as the Pātea Methodist Māori Club. In 1983, the group began to release Māori language, ...

's "

Poi E "Poi E" is a song by New Zealand group Pātea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Released in 1983, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song and accompanying music ...

" in 1984. Kingi set himself the goal of releasing 10 albums in the span of 10 years, performing in 10 different genres. The first in this series was ''Guitar Party at Uncle's Bach'' (2016), a double album recorded live in seven days at

Lyttelton, New Zealand Lyttelton ( or ''Riritana'') is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, at the northwestern end of Banks Peninsula and close to Christchurch, on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. As a landing point ...

. At the Waiata Māori Music Awards, Kingi won the awards for best Māori pop artist and best solo male artist. His second album, the soul-psychedelic ''Shake That Skinny Ass All the Way to Zygertron'' (2017), featured "Aztechknowledgey", which was nominated for the

APRA Silver Scroll The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills of its members. APRA hold the annual Silver Scroll Awards and song awards, ...

award. ''Holy Colony Burning Acres'' (2019) was a political

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the ho ...

album featuring songs that discussed subjects including West Papua, the

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

and

Aboriginal Tasmanians The Aboriginal Tasmanians (palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact, Aboriginal Tasmanians were divided into a numb ...

, The album won the

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. A prize of the same name (sometimes called the Taite Music Main) is one of five to be awarded. It recognises the best New Zealand album from the previous year. The prize is named ...

in 2020. In 2020, Kingi released ''The Ghost of Freddie Cesar'', an album inspired by a cassette tape Kingi found in the belongings of his father, who disappeared in 2005. The cassette tape since went missing, and the album was a re-creation of what Kingi remembered of the tape, blended with his own interpretations and original content. The album was a commercial success, reaching number two on the New Zealand albums chart. Kingi's 2021 album, ''Black Sea Golden Ladder'', was written in four days at an apartment on Clyde Wharf in

Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...

, as a part of the Matairangi Mahi Toi Artist Residency programme. The album was co-produced with New Zealand singer-songwriter

Delaney Davidson Delaney Davidson (born 15 December 1972) is a singer-songwriter from Lyttelton, New Zealand. He is known for his musical production, guitar work, and being a multi-instrumentalist. Besides his music, Davidson is also involved in graphics, visu ...

. Kingi plans to retire as a musician after releasing 10 albums, to become a music producer and a gardener at land he owns in

Ōkaihau Ōkaihau is a small town in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island, just north of Kaikohe. New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1 passes through Ōkaihau making it fairly busy. Ōkaihau has a primary school (Ōkaihau Primary ...

Personal life

Kingi's father disappeared around Christmas 2005, while driving between

and

. Kingi has five children with his wife Huia, and works with the Raid Movement, a group combatting youth suicide in Northland.

Discography

Studio albums

Reissues

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingi, Troy 1984 births 21st-century New Zealand male singers 21st-century multi-instrumentalists Living people Māori-language singers New Zealand male singer-songwriters New Zealand singer-songwriters New Zealand record producers People educated at Te Aute College People from Kerikeri People from Rotorua Psychedelic funk musicians Ngāpuhi people Te Arawa people Te Whānau-ā-Apanui people Taite Music Prize winners