Young Māori artist Jaedyn Randell takes identity struggle and turns it into heartfelt waiata

From a young age, Jaedyn Randell (Waikato) struggled to find her feet in "te ao Māori and te ao Pākehā", now she has taken those personal struggles and written them into a song called Patupaiārehe.

The 20-year old is one of eight Māori artists who have written and recorded songs for the second season of Māori Television's Waiata Nation.

Waiata Nation II is a show where Maimoa Music members Nathaniel Howe and Pere Wihongi invite eight up and coming Māori artists to take on the waiata reo Māori challenge.

Jaedyn Randell's first single Patupaiārehe will be released tomorrow on Māori Television. Photo / Supplied

Tonight, the first episode will air, focusing on Randell's song Patupaiārehe and the journey she went on while writing and recording this song.

When approached for Waiata Nation II, Randell jumped at the opportunity and challenges that would come with it.

Despite being proud of who she is today, Randell admits she hasn't always felt that way.

"Growing up very fair skinned it was a struggle throughout my childhood and I always had an internal battle with that."

Randell's battle with identity is what inspired her to write her first single.

"I didn't want to sing about love, I want to sing about something that really mattered to me," she said.

Although she struggles with songwriting, once Randell settled on a song topic, writing lyrics became easy.

"I chose to do a song about identity and once I decided to make this about tuakiritanga (identity), the rest became easy because I have experienced it."

Patupaiārehe is written and sung completely in te reo Māori, which Randell said was a challenge within itself.

"I wanted to make sure my reo was right, because of the colour of my skin it's important my reo is right."

Growing up Randell was immersed within te ao Māori and kapa haka but she is still embarking on her reo journey.

Although she is not fluent, Randell was able to write the majority of her song in te reo Māori which she said gave her a "boost in confidence".

"We have just seen the launch of the official reo Māori music chart. It's been amazing to see the growth and development in this space, especially from those artists coming from non-reo backgrounds," said Howe.

Jaedyn Randell is currently in her last semester of studying for a Bachelor of Commercial Music. Photo / Supplied

Before being approached to be on Waiata Nation II, Randell alongside her grandparents were big fans of the show's first season, watching every episode together during lockdown.

Unfortunately, her Koro passed away last September but Randell knows he will be looking down on her tonight when the song goes to air.

Without the love and support of her whānau, Randell knows she would not be where she is today.

"Everything I have done is a huge testament to my family, especially my mum," she said.

However, she is no stranger to the limelight, at age 16 Randell was cast as the voice behind Disney's Moana for a te reo Māori version of the hit film. She is as a familiar face to the rangatahi kapa haka stage and has a growing social media following.

Randell is proud of her first single and is excited about what the future holds.

Randell wants her song to encourage people to accept themselves for who they are.

"As long as the message shines through and one person can have some sort of attachment to it that's an accomplishment for me."

• You can watch Jaedyn Randell's Waiata Nation episode at 9pm, Thursday August 5, on Māori Television.