Pere Te Ruru o te Ramana Wihongi (born), sometimes known mononymously as PERE, is a New Zealand musician, voice actor, choreographer, and kapa haka performer. She is part of the award-winning music groups Maimoa and Te Kākano.
Wihongi was born and raised in Herekino. The family moved to Auckland when Wihongi was 9, and she began attending the Te Kura Kaupapa Māori ā Rohe o Māngere immersion school. While there she competed in and won the Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competition. She then attended South Seas Film & Television School to pursue a career in television.[1]
Wihongi's first job was as a production assistant, but eventually she worked her way up to be a reporter on news and current affairs shows such as Te Karere and Marae, and presenting the children's show Pūkana. In 2019, Wihongi started doing music and voice acting for the children's cartoon Pipi Mā.[1] [2] In 2021, Wihongi was a judge on the talent show 5 Minutes Of Fame.[3]
In 2015, Wihongi formed the music group Pūkana and Whānau with fellow Pūkana presenters. They changed their name to Maimoa in 2017. Maimoa appeared on the reality television shows Voices of Our Future and Waiata Nation, which documented the creation of their second single "Wairua" and their debut album Rongomaiwhiti respectively.[4] [5] Wihongi formed another music group, Te Kākano, in 2018.
Wihongi had her solo debut in 2019 with the single "High on Ingoingo".[6] She won Best Māori Male Solo Artist at that year's Waiata Māori Music Awards, alongside winning Best Traditional Album and Best Māori Pop Album for Te Kākano's self-titled debut album.[7]
In 2022, Wihongi joined the production company Matewa Media as the co-musical director alongside Rob Ruha for the Māori dub of the 1994 Disney film The Lion King.[8] In addition to this role, she also provided the voice of Olaf in the dub of Frozen.[9]
Wihongi has competed in kapa haka competition Te Matatini since she was 15. She founded the kapa haka group Angitu.[1] At Te Matatini 2023, Angitu broke gender norms by having Wihongi and Tuhoe Tamaiparea perform in the poi line.[10]
Wihongi identifies as takatāpui and has used both masculine and feminine pronouns but states in her social media profiles the she/her are her preferred pronouns.[11] [12] Her iwi are Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Rehua and Ngāti Wai.[1]
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ Hot [14] | NZ Hot Artist [15] | |||||||
| "High on Ingoingo"[16] | 2019 | 19 | 1 | rowspan="2" | ||||
| "Te Haa o Aotearoa"[17] | — | — | ||||||
| "E Raka e"[18] | 2020 | — | — | Rongomaiwhiti | ||||
| "Iarere Āio"[19] | 2022 | 40 | 4 | |||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | ||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ Artist [20] | NZ Hot | NZ Hot Artist | ||||||
| "Te Matatini Ki Te Ao"[21] [22] | 2018 | — | 31 | 8 | rowspan="4" | |||
| "Pakipaki Mai"[23] | 2019 | — | 24 | 4 | ||||
| "Stay"[24] | 2020 | 16 | 10 | 1 | ||||
| "Minamina"[25] | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | ||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ Hot Artist | ||||||||
| "Mahuru"[26] | 2020 | 9 | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | ||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ Artist | NZ Hot | NZ Hot Artist | ||||||
| "Tōrea" | 2018 | 20 | 27 | 13 | Te Kākano | |||
| "Kia Tika Rā" | — | — | 13 | |||||
| "Raumati" | 2019 | — | — | 14 | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | ||||||||
| Title | Year | Other artists | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "He Rā Hou Tēnai" | 2017 | Awatea Wihongi | Pao Pao Pao, Vol. 1 |
| "Pao Pao Pao" | Te Whānau Pao Pao Pao, Makaira Berry, Mareikura Nathan, Awarea Wihongi | ||
| "Tū Mai" | 2018 | Makaira Berry, Hamiora Tuari, Mere Arihi Pipi-Takoko | Te Kākano |
| "Raumati" | |||
| "Hikaia Te Ahikōmau" | Makaira Berry | ||
| "Tōrea" | Makaira Berry, Hamiora Tuari | ||
| "Kia Tika Rā" | Makaira Berry | ||
| "Te Puea" | Makaira Berry, Mere Arihi Pipi-Takoko, Hamiora Tuari | ||
| "Matike Maranga" | 2019 | Makaira Berry, Puawai Taiapa | Tākaro Tribe |
| "Ahakamana" | Makaira Berry, Puawai Taiapa |