Hoʻokupu – A Hip Hop Anthology of Hawaiʻi’s History
KŪMIMI, MOLOKAʻI, HAWAII, September, 2022: Hui O Kuapā is proud to present Hoʻokupu, a Hip Hop anthology of Hawaiian History, created by a masterful team of Hawaiian cultural historians, Hawaiʻi’s top MCs, Educational consultants, teachers, Nā Hōkū Hanohano award-winning Hip Hop artists, producers, Hip Hop lyrical advisors, and academic professors.
Released on the birthday of Queen Liliʻuokalani (Hawaii’s last reigning Monarch) this collaborative project can be used in classrooms as a rich and engaging resource to teach Hawaiʻi’s history. As an education through arts and culture initiative, the project has been optimized by creating supplemental resources, including a written text consisting of an introduction to each song or unit, followed by the lyrics to the song, writing, and discussion prompts, and recommended sources to supplement the content areas covered within the song. These resources are available to all ages, races, and genders in Hawaiʻi nei and will expand across the planet.
Listen to the audio version on all global music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, iTunes, Amazon Music, TikTok and more! The lyrics will be available in written text and audiobook form on all downloadable book platforms such as Amazon books and iTunes. This project alchemizes the meaning of oral storytelling by telling our story in a truly traditional fashion blended with the highly influential modern catalysts for social change, Hip Hop, and media.
The Hoʻokupu Hip Hop Project is directed and narrated by Maile Naehu. The MC’s include Punahele Kutzen, Hanohano Naehu, Kapu Pajimola, ʻIhilani Lasconia, Navid Najafi, Martin Dixon, and Māpuana Hayashi Simpliciano. The Chanters and Singers are Maile Naehu and Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua. The Musical Engineers and Producers include Rukka the Magnificent(Rodger White), Ohtoro Beats(Scott Ohtoro), and Kahale Naehu. The Logo Artist is Kapu Pajimola. The Cover Artist and Author of liner notes is Kapiliʻula Naehu.
Hui O Kuapā is a 501(C)(3) non-profit charitable organization founded in 1989 by communities on Molokaʻi to assist in the grass roots effort to restore the Molokaʻi fishponds back to productivity. The objective being to increase food production from both the loko iʻa and adjacent lands in order to feed and educate the community and serve as a model of a flourishing ahupuaʻa mauka a makai, empowering others to do the same. This is in alignment with Molokaʻi’s vision to become a model of self-sufficiency, a center for cultural knowledge and practices training new generations of practitioners, leaders, and producers who can live the values of aloha ʻāina and kuleana.
Listen to the Hoʻokupu album on Spotify, Apple music, Youtube, Amazon Music, Pandora, and more!
To support Hui O Kuapā and this project visit www.huiokuapa.org
Follow on Instagram: @hui_o_kuapa and Facebook: @huiokuapa
Contact Project Director Maile Naehu at alohahaloa@gmail.com
Address: 99205 Kamehameha V Hwy, Kaunakakai HI 96748
For more information and interviews, email the project director Maile Naehu at alohahaloa@gmail.com.