Jawaiian in Hawaiian
Call it Jawaiian or “island music” or local-style reggae. Call it what you will, musicians here have been writing and recording music with Jamaican rhythms for more than a quarter-century.
Henry Kapono rocked with “Stand in the Light” in 1981. Brother Noland hit with “Coconut Girl” in 1983. After that came the deluge!
What Hawaii hasn’t seen is a local band that plays music with Jamaican rhythms and lyrics in the indigenous language of Hawaii. Tongans, Samoans, Tahitians, Fijians, Maori and the peoples of Papua New Guinea have all been playing reggae-style music in their indigenous languages, while Hawaiian reggae has remained English-only.