On the Air - Mā runga iarere for Tuesday 20 January 2026

Check out all the tunes played with our playlist 'Sounds Like On The Air' below!

12:35 Louis Baker celebrates summer and teases new music

His music has earned him a Taite Music Prize nomination, Silver Scrolls nominations and Aotearoa Music Awards nominations for Best Soul Artist and Best Māori Artist.

Independently, he has accumulated over 45 million Spotify streams. Soul singer Louis Baker sits down with Maggie Tweedie and Mark Williams to talk about his incredibly busy summer, and his highly anticipated new music.

Louis' Selection:

• Keni Burke - Risin' To The Top

• J Dilla - So Far To Go

1:05  Kadambari Raghukumar takes us international

Producer and presenter of the award-winning weekly podcast series Here Now, Kadambari Raghukumar, goes to great efforts to feature stories from a cross section of diaspora living in New Zealand.

Today she takes Maggie Tweedie and Mark Williams across the globe to Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo and India, with stories from said podcast.

You can listen to Here Now, here.

Kadambari's Selection:

• Oddisee - Small Talk

• Luciano - Over the Hills

• The Bongo Hop, Nidia Gongora - Ventana

2:10 What to see at The Dowse Art Museum

Senior Curator and Art Historian with a penchant for the peculiar Dr Chelsea Nicholls at the leading contemporary art museum in Lower Hutt, Wellington - The Dowse Art Museum.

Maggie Tweedie & Mark Williams get taken on a tour of their latest exhibitions.

3:05 HALFQUEEN reminisces about Splore through music

DJ, Producer, Promoter and all around Champion of the Music Community, Shaquille Wasasala, also known as HALFQUEEN, is in the studio.

She joins Maggie Tweedie and Mark Williams to talk about this year's finale of Splore, and all the great moments from the historic festival, with a selection of her musical favourites.

HALFQUEEN's Selection:

• Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves the Sunshine 

• Fat Freddy’s Drop - Blackbird 

• @Peace - Home

• Erykah Badu - Didn’t Cha Know

• Nightmares on Wax, Ladi6 - Holding On

• Spdrtwnbby - Back 2 Self ft. Jarna

4:05 Erny Belle Live at the Leigh Sawmill Cafe

Ngāpuhi singer-songwriter Erny Belle, known for her debut alt-folk/country and Pacific pop-tinged album 'Venus Is Home', preforms live at the Leigh Sawmill Cafe.

Songs Played:

12pm

• Jim Sharp - Searching

• Last Dinner Party - The Feminine Urge

• Louis Baker - So Good

• Keni Burke - Risin' To The Top

• J Dilla - So Far To Go

• Louis Baker - Misty in Matakana

1pm

• Jim Sharp - Searching

• Oddisee - Small Talk

• Luciano - Over the Hills

• The Bongo Hop, Nidia Gongora - Ventana

2pm

• Jim Sharp - Searching

•  Gregor Salto, Helena Mendes - Mas que nada

• Tim Maia - Que Beliza

• Shihad - Screwtop

• Romi Wrights - Shine a Light

• Dangelo - Prayer

• L'Impératrice - Agitations tropicales

• Eddie Kendricks - Body Talk

• Nightmares On Wax, Greentea Peng - I Remember

3pm

• Jim Sharp - Searching

• Kenny Sterling - Loves Mirage

• Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves the Sunshine 

• Fat Freddy’s Drop - Blackbird 

• @Peace - Home

• Erykah Badu - Didn’t Cha Know

• Nightmares on Wax, Ladi6 - Holding On

• Spdrtwnbby - Back 2 Self ft. Jarna

4pm

• Jim Sharp - Searching

• Reuben Wilson - Inner City Blues

• Cantinuum, Deva Mahal - Girls Just Want to Have Fun

• Nubiyan Twist, Fatoumata Diawara - Chasing Shadows

• Tami Neilson - Green Peaches

• Ravyn Lenae - Love Me Not