Kalani Pe’a | 2020 Native Launchpad Artist

ARTIST WEBSITE

Tribal Affiliation: Native Hawaiian

Artistic Discipline: Music

Hilo, HI

A singer of power, sensitivity, and charisma, Kalani Pe’a made Hawaiian music history when his debut album, E Walea, took home the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album. In Hawai’i that same year, he was awarded the Na Hoku Hanohano Award (Hawai’i’s Premier Music Awards) for Best Hawaiian Contemporary Album, becoming the first Hawaiian recording artist to receive both awards for the same project.

Accolades continued with his critically acclaimed second album, No ’Ane’i, which won the Regional Roots Grammy in 2019, topped the iTunes world music charts, and reached No. 11 on Billboard’s world music charts. In 2019, he achieved another 1st: he made his debut appearance at the prestigious Merrie Monarch hula competition, singing one of his original songs for the hula group that went on to take home the top honor. In 2020 he made his sold out New York City debut as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, the first Hawaiian artist to be featured on the series.

Self-described as “Hawaiian contemporary soul,” Mr. Pe’a was awarded a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship in 2018, and in 2019, he received the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship from First Peoples Fund and was honored with the distinguished alumni award by his alma mater, Colorado Mesa University. With his passion for perpetuating Hawaiian language, his albums feature his original Hawaiian songs alongside his affectionate arrangements and Hawaiian interpretations of some of his R&B favorites, reflecting the western music he grew up with.

Mr. Pe'a is a proud 2001 Hawaiian Immersion graduate of Ke Kula ‘o Nāwahīokalani’ōpu’u. Mr. Pe'a also has helped raise thousands of dollars for the Alzheimer's Association due to the fact his grandmother currently suffers from this disease. Mr Pe'a was Hawaii State co-chair of the 2019 End Alzheimer's Walk Campaign. Mr. Pe'a also donates monies for scholarships specifically

for Hawai'i students attending Colorado Mesa University and helped create scholarships for LGBTQ students.