As she gears up to release her new EP, kaiwaiata Māori Paige (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) reflects on six years in music and platinum success overseas. Despite the international buzz, she is still working hard to be recognised at home in Aotearoa.

“I have a new EP coming out this year, which is Paigesspace, which is kind of about my own coming of age story, I guess, of experiencing my young 20s, my late 20s. And just my growth as a human being.”

Paige went platinum in South Korea in 2023, where she has over 75 million global streams and a number one streaming market. While visiting Korea and Japan, she is often recognised by fans in the streets.

“Going to Korea was really interesting, because over there I felt like I was maybe put on a pedestal a little bit.”

Kua hou tana rongo ki tāwahi, engari anō ki te kāinga

Since her return from overseas, she is back to her regular 9-5 job and still working to make a name for herself locally.

“I’ve posted on TikTok a lot about working at Krispy Kreme, which is, you’ve gotta have some mahi when you’re an artist and an upcoming artist. And I think I like to give a realistic lens into what it’s like to be an artist. Especially in Aotearoa,” she adds.

“It was kind of like this really confusing mentality of like, oh, my self-esteem is here internationally, and then my self-esteem was kind of here locally. Sometimes. But I think it’s kind of like, my time will come.”

Last year, Paige found herself on stage with global pop stars the Jonas Brothers, opening for them at Spark Arena after a lucky break on social media.

“I gave them all a taonga and they thought that was really cool,” she says.

“I grew up like a young Māori girl looking at [the] international world being like man I feel so small in this big world. When you see international and Māoritanga meet, it feels really exciting.”

Mātaamua ko tōna hononga ki te ao Māori

No matter where she goes in the world, Paige says it’s her Māoritanga that keeps her grounded.

“My biggest goal has always been to share Māoritanga with the world. And it’s always been that way.”

Should she ever win a Grammy, Paige hopes to deliver her acceptance speech in te reo Māori.

For now, Paige continues to grow her international following. She was recently announced on the first lineup for the 2025 Zandari Festival in South Korea, where she will travel this October.

In addition to her EP Paigesspace set to release in the coming months, Paige’s new single tragedy is out now and available to stream.