Herbs
The band that gave Pacific reggae an unmistakable Aotearoa voice. Herbs wrapped Māori and Pasifika politics, migration and anti-nuclear protest in sweet harmonies and a reggae pulse built for local life.
GO DEEPER
Herbs grew from Auckland musicians with Māori and Pacific roots and released the landmark mini-album “What’s Be Happen?” in 1981. Its cover remembered the 1978 Bastion Point eviction, while the songs addressed Pacific migration, racism, apartheid-era South Africa and the conditions surrounding the Dawn Raids and Springbok Tour. The politics never meant sacrificing melody. Sweet harmonies and an adapted reggae offbeat became part of the band’s signature, and “French Letter” turned opposition to French nuclear testing in the Pacific into a widely heard protest song. Herbs helped establish that Pacific reggae could be deeply connected to Jamaica while answering to Aotearoa and the Pacific first.
Where the history is argued
- “Founding fathers of Pacific reggae” is commonly used for Herbs, but the phrase should not erase contemporaneous Māori and Pacific bands such as Aotearoa and Dread Beat and Blood.
How they stand with the others
Took rootHerbs used reggae to tell Māori and Pasifika stories rather than importing Jamaican subject matter wholesale.
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Last checked 1 September 2026