Award-Winning Musicians Join the “Our Kuleana” Effort to Stop the Spread of COVID-19

September 26, 2020, 7:33 PM HST
* Updated September 26, 7:35 PM

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Award-winning artists and budding musicians from Hawaiʻi Island formed Alohaland Collective and released a campaign and song called “Our Kuleana.” The campaign and recording encourages residents to mobilize during critical times of need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As the opening kāhea states, ‘No kākou ke kuleana!’ It’s our responsibility and together we can do this,” said Kainani Kahaunaele, vocalist on the project and five-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner.

The “Our Kuleana” movement started three weeks ago as Big Island COVID-19 numbers began to spike, galvanizing community to stop the spread of the virus. From thousands of social media posts of individuals taking the #ourkuleana challenge wearing masks, to a growing social media following @ourkuleanahawaii, the movement now has an anthem.

Hilo’s own Brandon Nakano and twelve other Hawaiʻi Island musicians brought their talents together in a matter of days to record the single, “Our Kuleana.” Nakano shared, “The Our Kuleana campaign had just rolled out and composing and recording this song was a way for me to express what I was feeling and be able to help. Our biggest kuleana is to aloha each other.”

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Nakano made the call out to the Alohaland Collective less than three weeks ago and “Our Kuleana” is now available for download on iTunes and will soon be streaming on Spotify and Pandora.

“The way this recording came together is a prime example of what is at the core of the campaign – community coming together to take responsibility for community,” said Randy Kurohara of Community First, the Hawaiʻi Island non-profit coordinating the Our Kuleana campaign.

Award winning musician Bruddah Waltah Aipolani shared his simple yet compelling motivation for being a part of the project, “My kupuna and my keiki are the reason why I feel this is my kuleana.”

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Kurohara echoed these sentiments, noting that “We all have a kuleana to fulfill in order to stop the spread of the virus – government and health organizations and officials as well as all of us in the community.”