For Tongan Language Week, Rizvan shares some of the inspiration for his song 'Phoenix'.
As a young boy growing, Rizvan Tu'itahi's first introduction to music was through the Tongan songs his parents would sing to him as a child.
Now he weaves the language into his own artistry.
Living next to the hospital morgue for much of his childhood meant that Rizvan was constantly exposed to village singing.
"Almost every night, whoever passed away - that meant families would have to come to the morgue," he says.
"So there was always all this music and singing."
Being born into the Baha'i faith and living with a well-traveled Father also exposed Rizvan to a range of musical influences during his upbringing in the small capital of Nuku'alofa.
"My Dad exposed us to so much other music like Indian, Persian, Filipino," he said
"Even RnB and Blues, he'd play at home, even though we weren't speaking English at the time."
His track 'Phoenix', released in 2012, features Tongan words such as "Lele ke vave ki api" - a common phrase yelled out by many mothers in the village, calling their kids to return home.
"When you're playing around in Tonga in the village, as soon as the sun sets you kind of push it to the limit,"
"Every household would have their mum screaming across the fence or the field - 'Hey! Lele ke vave ki api! (Run home quick!) otherwise you're not gonna have dinner!' or 'you're gonna get a hiding and go straight to sleep!' he says.
Village names are also dropped into the 'Phoenix' track with mentions of Havelu, Kolofo'ou and Tofoa - different places his family stayed in while growing up in Tonga.
And then there's the food.
"There's lu sipi, which is like taro leaves mixed with coconut cream and other different varieties of meat,"
"Otai, which is my favourite, which is like a watermelon fruit drink which you can mix with other fruits,"
"Faikakai - which is kind of like this Tongan dessert, kind of like doughboys."
Although the mention of dessert may seem insignificant to some, it's the use of the language that is a big deal for Rizvan.
"As an emcee, rapper, not many people are able to be bilingual with lyrics, so it was a challenge for me to use it," he explains.
"For me, Tongan was my first language and now being in New Zealand, I thought, why not go all out and use it?"
- Story by Indira Stewart. Video filmed by Zac Arnold and edited by Luke McPake.