Coming into his own, taking Hawaiian music to the next dimension is Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole. The three-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winner has developed into a phenomenal world music artist with an inventive talent that shines brightly on his self-titled new album, Kaumakaiwa.
With this album, Kanaka’ole finds himself setting the pace, raising the bar and pushing the standards—yet again—challenging not only himself but his contemporaries. As strong a Hawaiian as his bloodline, Kanaka’ole delivers 12 oli (chants) and mele (song) with refined dynamics that is exclusively his own.
Accompanied by a passionate, unmatched love of his culture and the power that lies within his lineage, Kanaka’ole is blazing a new trail in the 21st century while paying homage to those who have come before him, a theme that resonates with this, his third album. |
