Ethnically and Culturally Inspired Music
About "Ātahu (feat. Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole)"
Ātahu explores the art of love spells; incantations to bewitch a lover. Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole is gifted in oli’ the traditional style of native Hawaiian chant. She weaves in and out of the whispered, spoken word vocals of Moana – her voice a perfect match for a song that celebrates and explores the art of magic and seduction.
Kaumakaiwa told me that we’d met 20 years ago amid the dusty, majestic ruins of Greece. My group represented Aotearoa in the Cultural Olympiad that led up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Our cohort included Indigenous Australian, Lakota Sioux and native Hawaiians. Kaumakaiwa was a teenager then, the star of the Hawaiian group. Just a boy. “Ātahu” is a mixture of spoken word, whispers, haunting refrains and ‘oli chants – a perfect match for a song that celebrates and explores the art of magic and seduction.
The theme of the waiata is magic. Kaumakaiwa weaves a spell in and around the seductive groove created by Paddy Free. Now a charismatic young wahine, Kaumakaiwa has come full circle.
So have I.
Kaumakaiwa told me that we’d met 20 years ago amid the dusty, majestic ruins of Greece. My group represented Aotearoa in the Cultural Olympiad that led up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Our cohort included Indigenous Australian, Lakota Sioux and native Hawaiians. Kaumakaiwa was a teenager then, the star of the Hawaiian group. Just a boy. “Ātahu” is a mixture of spoken word, whispers, haunting refrains and ‘oli chants – a perfect match for a song that celebrates and explores the art of magic and seduction.
The theme of the waiata is magic. Kaumakaiwa weaves a spell in and around the seductive groove created by Paddy Free. Now a charismatic young wahine, Kaumakaiwa has come full circle.
So have I.
