and embracing his Māori identity
Stan Walker has revealed he was told he had to be "less Māori" to be successful in Australia.
The singer and actor, who first made a name for himself when he won Australian Idol in 2009, has climbed the charts on both sides of the Tasman and won eight New Zealand Music Awards since.
But Walker, whose iwi are Tūhoe and Ngāti Tuwharetoa, said many different people in the industry in Australia - "old heads who come from the old world" - told him he had to change to be on a mainstream platform.
"The more Māori I was, the less appealing I was to record sales, to be sold, basically," he told Newstalk ZB's Jack Tame.
"I literally was told, 'I think you're being too brown' and 'you're not like them' - I am every part of who 'them' is."
Link to interview: https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/video/stan-walker-on-his-new-single-and-embracing-his-maori-identity/
