Twenty-five years after the death of Gabby Pahinui, a handful of bands and performers are making music that might not sound like "Hi'ilawe," but its heart is pure Hawaiian. Kamau and Kupa 'Aina are two bands that write and perform songs about real life and current problems that say more about the islands today than "Fish and poi, I'm a big boy." Sometimes they do it in 'olelo Hawai'i.
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Considering that all four band members are pro-Hawaiian Kingdom, it's not a surprise that many of Kamau's songs have a political bent. "The first time we played music, that's what [Kamana] was singing about. And I needed that to be able to play music," says [bassist and aspiring filmmaker Kaliko] Ma'i'i. "So from that moment, all of us have clicked on that level, of being Hawaiian and wanting to sing about something more. I'm not trying to say we're some solution. We just try to click on that level of being Hawaiian."