Kalani Pe`a
Bio
Kalani Pe’a is a three time Grammy® Award Winner for “Best Regional Roots Music Album” followed by mulitple Nā Hōku Hanohano Award (Hawai‘i’s “Grammy”) for Best Hawaiian Contemporary Album, making Hawaiian music history as the only album to win both a Grammy and Na Hoku.
The Maui News praises “[his] distinguished…flair for Hawaiian language composition, a talent for fusing traditional and contemporary elements into his music, and his broad, expressive vocal range.
He made his debut appearance at the prestigious Merrie Monarch hula competition in 2019. Singing his original song He Lei Aloha no Hilo for Hula Halau ‘O Kamuela, they are the hula group that went on to take home the Best Overall title, the top honor at the competition.
Self-described as “Hawaiian contemporary soul,” Kalani Pe‘a was awarded a prestigious Native Arts & Cultures Foundation Fellowship in 2018. In 2019, he received the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship by the First Peoples Fund and was honored with the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award by his alma mater Colorado Mesa University. With his passion for perpetuating the Hawaiian language, his music features his original Hawaiian songs alongside a nod to the western music he grew up with, creating his affectionate bilingual arrangements of his personal R&B favorites.