Biography
read full storyUnity Pacific is the name that New Zealand political activist and reggae artist Tigilau Ness performs under.
Ness began his work as an activist early in his life as he was expelled from high school in 1971 for refusing to cut his Afro. This prompted him to form the Polynesian Panthers which was a Polynesian rights group. He soon became active in supporting global causes such as the eradication of the apartheid and the Springbok Tour in 1981. His commitment to the causes he believes in has landed him in prison as he was arrested during a protest march and spent nine months in the Mount Eden Prison.
It was while attending a Maori land protest that he converted to Rastafarianism and he began to get involved in music. He founded the reggae group The Twelve Tribes of Israel in the 1970s and started a band called Unity in 1975. After having been exposed to the music industry for a number of years, he eventually formed the Unity Reggae Band in 1985, but they never released an album till the early 2000s. The band's music features prominently Ness' struggles while growing up and the injustice he continues to see around him. He even went on to produce a documentary film highlighting his struggles titled "From Street To Sky" and it was released in 2008.
His work as an activist, musician and filmographer earned him a lifetime achievement award at the Pacific Music Awards in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2009. Ness and his band continue to produce music and perform around the globe in their attempt to reduce injustice and inequality anywhere it still survives.