His korero focused on paerangi, or new frontiers, innovations and horizons, and he spoke about endeavouring to reach them.
He reflected on some of the paerangi he has reached in his life so far.
Throughout it all, te reo Maori has been a large feature.
Just over a week ago he performed with Ria Hall at the Darwin Festival in Australia, where they were singing songs in te reo Maori about indigenous consciousness to a sellout crowd of predominantly pakeha.
“Some people came from as far away as Dubai because they wanted to listen to indigenous consciousness,” he said.
One of his most well-known achievements is his work on the Disney movie Moana, where he helped with the te reo Maori version and wrote the Maori soundtrack.
“Who would have ever thought that te reo Maori would be ringing out in the halls of Disney?”
It also grabbed the attention of the boss of Marvel studios, who was fascinated about the language and wanted to have his own private screening of Moana: Reo Maori.
After viewing it, he got the team to put Maori subtitles to the Marvel blockbuster Thor Ragnarok.
Rob also spoke of his songwriting journey in kapa haka, composing songs for the various teams he has performed with.
“In Turanga Wahine Turanga Tane we would just write songs every day. It was an amazing time. We were young, free and able to write whatever came to our ngakau (heart).
“In Te Kapa Haka o Te Whanau a Apanui I learned how to sharpen my knife as a songwriter under the wing of composer Rikirangi Gage.”
Encouraging the next generation of Maori musicians is another paerangi Rob has reached.
“There is Kaaterama Pou, who is part of a fantastic group, Maimoa Music. She is only 18 and she will release her own music on November 8. She has been with our whanau for the part three years. We’ve been bringing her through the ranks, showing her what’s real and what’s not — because there is a lot of ‘what’s not’ in this industry.
“Then there’s Te Karehana Gardiner-Toi, better known as Teeks. He is probably one of the hottest soul singers in the country right now and he is about to blow up internationally as well. He was raised in a fantastic reo Maori, kura kaupapa Maori, kapa haka and now Maori music whanau.”
Rob uses Maori music to get his social and cultural messages out to the world.
“We are here to talk about new frontiers, new initiatives, a new way forward.
But we have a whole heap of chaos going on in our world — housing, homelessness, war, systemic racism. I’m sure we all face that (systemic racism) at times in the mahi (work) that we do. I know I do. That’s why I write songs about them.
“Identity is the power pack of freedom. Freedom to think, to be, to create, to challenge.
“How are we teaching our people to be who they are? Are we doing it by not allowing te reo Maori to be a core subject in our kura?
“We are now the beneficiaries of kohanga reo, kura kaupapa and whare wananga.
“What’s important is that we learn, we acknowledge and we practise how we got there.
“Kia anga whakamuri, nga tirohanga whakamua — looking back to look forward, a phrase coined by Kuini Moehau Reedy.
“Why is this so important to us? Because success leaves clues.
“These are the biggest clue finders that help us attain our next big thing.
“In our whare (meeting houses) the walls are lined with only the greatest, only the finest tipuna (ancestors), korero, history, whakapapa.
“When you walk into your whare, it is showing you the best you that you can be. This is what your people have willed to you.”
