Moizna


Back in 1997, teenagers across Auckland couldn’t believe their eyes and ears when ‘Just Another Day’ by West Auckland hip-hop/R&B group Moizna (mow-is-na) became a regular feature on Max TV’s after-school programme The Beat. Seeing these young Polynesian women wearing puffer jackets and vests while singing and rapping over world-class production was a watershed moment for a generation. Three years later, Moizna disbanded, leaving behind a legacy of classic singles and music videos that continue to resonate today.

The Moizna story begins with Maureen Taumatiene. A classically trained pianist, Maureen started playing at age nine before studying music theory up to grade six through a Royal School of Music programme. By the time she was in the fifth form (year 11) at Kelston Girls’ College in West Auckland, Maureen had fallen in love with the sounds of 90s hip-hop, neo-soul and R&B, which would later become the foundation of Moizna’s music.

Phil Fuemana with some Urban Pacifika artists on the cover of Real Groove magazine, June 1999
Photo credit: Photo by Gary Brandon
Moizna - Keep On Moving EP cover
Moizna with the Urban Pacifika family
Keep On Movin' (video, 1997)
Moizna (L-R): Isabelle Davis (née Siosiua), Maureen Taumateine, Allisha Pepe (née Siosiua), and Rita Tuiala
Moizna (clockwise from top left): Maureen Taumateine, Isabelle Siosiua, Allisha Siosiua, unidentified
Photo credit: Tony Fuemana Collection
Moizna (L-R): Isabelle Davis (née Siosiua), Maureen Taumateine, Allisha Pepe (née Siosiua), and Rita Tuiala
Just Another Day - Moizna - video directed by Joe Lonie
Moizna's Isabelle and Allisha Siosiua flank Phil Fuemana at Urban Pacifika’s launch of the Pioneers of a Pacifikan Frontier CD, Moata Samoa Fale, Auckland, 22 June 1999
Photo credit: Peter Hardie/Real Groove archive
Urban Pacifika - One (1999)
The Urban Pacifika family on the cover of New Zealand Musician, February/March 1998
Moizna, 'Just Another Day' (CD single, BMG, 1997)
Photo credit: Brett Wagner Collection
Members:

Maureen Taumatiene

Isabelle Siosiua

Alesha Siosiua

Rita Tuiala

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