“You Never Know”
Bruddah Waltah featuring Ryan Hiraoka
Rubbah Slippah Productions
Big Island resident Bruddah Waltah Aipolani holds an important place in Hawaii music history. Known simply as Bruddah Waltah, he was one of the first big stars of the Jawaiian music boom. His debut album, “Hawaiian Reggae,” credited to Bruddah Waltah & Island Afternoon, won the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for best contemporary album in 1991, and was the only album by a Jawaiian or reggae artist to win a Hoku until a separate reggae category was created in 1999.
Waltah had dropped off the charts by the end of the 1990s. He returns now in partnership with another Big Island-based Hoku winner, multifaceted Ryan Hiraoka, with the release of a digital single that Hiraoka wrote in honor of a third Hawaii recording artist important to the evolution of Hawaiian music, the late Don “King Don 1” Ke‘ala Kawa‘auhau Jr., of Sudden Rush.
“You Never Know” has the good-time feel of a back-porch jam, with lyrics that are timeless and intensely relevant: “Don’t be afraid to tell the people you love that you love them. Tomorrow is never promised. There are good times and bad times, and a season for every thing. Only God knows why the good ones go.”
“You never know when life is pau.”
Waltah recorded the song the day before he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy. He has a GoFundMe page, 808ne.ws/waltah.
Bruddah Waltah, we love you!
“You Never Know” is available on all major streaming services.
“E ‘Apo Mai Kaua”
Stacie Ku‘ulei
Ku‘ulei Productions/ Tin Idol Productions
Stacie Ku‘ulei describes herself on Facebook as a “Singer Entertainer Lyricist Producer Hawaiian by Blood Kaua‘i Wahine Who WAILs PASSION from her SOUL.” Her album proves the point with “Rise Up” / “E Ala E,” a Hawaiian medley that she sings with a passionate intensity transcending the language barrier. A second song, “Malama the Land,” is performed in English as well as Hawaiian. Once again, no translation of the Hawaiian lyrics is provided in the liner notes, but her commitment to the ‘aina comes through.
The album’s nine songs display the breadth of her musical interests. Ku‘ulei sings in English and Japanese, and in styles including traditional hapa haole, modern hapa haole and mainstream pop.
Several show her appeal as a hapa haole performer. The instrumental embellishments on “Don’t Tell Me,” a triumphant anthem of personal empowerment, is reminiscent of the urban-lite pop of the 1980s.
And then there’s her Japanese-language calling card, “Toki No Nagare Ni Mi O Makase,” originally recorded by Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng in 1986, which demonstrates beautifully another facet of her repertoire (the title can be translated as “Leave It to the Flow of Time”).
There is also a Christmas song, “Christmas Joy,” that is likely to become a local holiday favorite in the years to come.
The album is available on iTunes. Complete hard-copy CDs, autographed for the buyer, can be ordered at staciekuulei29@gmail.com.
