Hawai‘i’s Most Prominent Musicians Unite To Uplift The Islands’ Black Voices And Stories On ‘Pōpoloheno: Songs Of Resilience And Joy’ (June 13)
Listen To Four-Time GRAMMY Winner Kalani Pe’a Honor Trailblazing Hawaiian Musician Kamakakēhau Fernandez On “Kamakakakēhau”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jtqfrp-ti
Performances Of Music From ‘Pōpoloheno’ Are Planned For Hawai‘i And San Francisco This August
Album Arrives With Support From The National Endowment For The Arts, Gerbode Foundation And Kenneth Rainin Foundation
The undertold stories and vast contributions of the Black community in Hawai‘i will be brought to the national stage this summer on ‘Pōpoloheno: Songs Of Resilience And Joy’ (coming June 13). Uniting a diverse array of award-winning musicians from throughout the Hawaiian Islands, the ten-song collection serves as a celebration of the African experience in Hawai‘i - and an effort to ensure this vital history will continue to be told and remembered.
Much of the new and original work on ‘Pōpoloheno’ takes the form of ‘mele inoa’ (“name songs”), a Hawaiian musical tradition that serves as the highest of tributes to those being honored. Some stories on the album feature prominent figures - like that of President Barack Obama’s upbringing in Hawai‘i, or Martin Luther King Jr’s 1959 address to the Hawaiian Legislature - but many more shine a light on those who remain too little-known. Those include Alice Ball - who developed the first treatment for leprosy before passing away at just 24 years old - and Betsey Stockton, a formerly enslaved woman who taught children of the makaʻainana (“common folk”) how to read and write. The first advance look at the album arrives today from Kalani Pe’a (who just won his fourth GRAMMY this month) - in the form of a mele inoa for Arkansas-born, Hawaiʻi-raised musician Kamakakēhau Fernandez.
Listen to Kalani Pe’a’s “Kamakakēhau” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Pre-order 'Pōpoloheno: Songs Of Resilience And Joy’ here: https://found.ee/dZK8lg
“You are loved Kamakakēhau Fernandez. For your mama, for your ʻohana (family) nurturing and loving you,” said Pe’a in a message accompanying the song. “From your African Roots, being adopted by the 'ohana Nae'ole and Fernandez, to your Hawaiian music and Hawaiian immersion language education upbringing. This mele (song) honors you.”
‘Pōpoloheno’ was produced and conceived of by Māhealani Uchiyama, a musician who is also likely the first Kumu Hula (Hula master) of African descent. Of the project’s title, she shares: “Pōpoloheno is named after the pōpolo, a black colored berry which is found throughout Polynesia. In Hawaiʻi it has become associated with people of African descent because of its rich, dark coloring. Due to subsequent colonial thoughts and practices, the term has since been used as a pejorative. The project is reclaiming the word and honoring the positive meanings of the pōpolo.”
Contributors to the album include many of Hawai‘i’s most beloved musicians, including a song from Kamakakēhau Fernandez himself plus fellow Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner (presented by the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts) Patrick Landeza and nominee Kaulike Pescaia. Hawaiʻi’s “First Lady of Jazz” Azure McCall and Kumu Hula (Hula Master) Kawika Alfiche also appear on ‘Pōpoloheno.’ The project was created by Māhealani Uchiyama alongside a team of advisers including Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp (Historian & Sociologist), Dr. Akiemi Glenn (Historical Consultant), Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier (Hawaiian Language Resource) and Dr. Kalei Nuʻuhiwa (Hawaiian Epistemology and Protocol Guidance). It is made possible with grants from the Gerbode Foundation, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Special performances of music from ‘Pōpoloheno’ will take place in both Hawai‘i and San Francisco this August, featuring Māhealani Uchiyama and many of the key players from the album. More details will be announced soon.
‘Pōpoloheno’ Tracklist
1. Kamakakēhau
2. Ka Pua Mohala
3. A Lei For Reverend King
4. Pua Laulele
5. Wahine Hoʻola
6. Kumuniu Cumbia
7. He Mele Awaiaulu Nō Hawaiʻi Haʻaheo
8. Ka Momi Hiwahiwa
9. Māhealani
10. I Am Where I Belong