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The music business often involves chasing successful fads and copying popular sounds. Every innovator is succeeded by copy-cat acts, and Hawaii's high-profile Jawaiian/"island music" scene is no exception. Most of the major acts have moved past the stage of imitating Jamaican roots reggae hits, but many are still trying to find ways to incorporate reggae-based rhythms in a distinctly Hawaiian style of music. O-shen on mission
to promote Oceanic
reggae and rapBy John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comO-shen is one Hawaii-based artist who wants to make it happen, while helping to advance contemporary urban Hawaiian culture.
"I've gotten to live in the two extremes in the Pacific islands," he said. "The most traditional island still is New Guinea where there are people who are still almost undiscovered living in the interior, and then Hawaii is the most modernized of all the Pacific islands.
"They're the ones that have lost their language and their village system. To go from one to the other and see Hawaii was a shock at first. I drove all around the island and to me it all looked urban -- even what they called country. If the roads are paved I don't consider that country.
"I've got a lot of good close friends in the Hawaiian community so I know the culture and language is still there but it's on the down-low and hasn't been brought back to the mainstream. It's hard to do when a majority of the people living here are not Hawaiian and don't really care to learn anything about it."
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O-shen doesn't set himself up as an example beyond the ideas he presents on his two albums "Iron Youth" and "Rascal in Paradise." He enjoys the basic primitive rhythms of roots reggae, but when he takes the mic and starts rapping, it's in the Melanesian pidgin that is his first language. And, he's been incorporating more Melanesian pidgin in his writing and his live performances. One of his next projects will be to add a distinctly Papua-New Guinea sound to the music tracks, although he says there are some problems involved in getting the instruments he wants."The main instrument in Papua-New Guinea that's kind of universal is the kunda drum. I could definitely use kunda drums but it's hard to bring them because the top is an iguana skin. You can bring the shell but then you have to get some other skin. Whenever you leave PNG you almost always go through Australia, and they don't allow any kind of animal products."
Other possibilities include drums and flutes made of bamboo, but the kunda drum (seen on the cover of his new "Rascal in Paradise" album) is the key. The challenge is to adapt foreign styles into something fresh -- such as writing and recording Hawaiian-language songs with reggae rhythms.
"I don't understand why people haven't done that yet. That's something that surprises me about ... the local industry here -- they keep the language and the reggae separate. ... Every other Pacific island I've been to -- Tahiti, Guam, Tokelau, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand -- they do reggae in their own language. When I came to Hawaii I thought I would hear reggae in Hawaiian -- whole albums of reggae with Hawaiian language -- but I didn't find one.
"I have a lot of friends who speak Hawaiian and it wouldn't be that hard to make a reggae song in the language, maybe just to show people that it can be done. It's sad to come here and see that the language is not spoken that much. I think it should be understood that anyone going to school in Hawaii should have to take so many years of Hawaiian language whether they're Hawaiian or not."
Sound radical? Well, that's what O-shen did. The Caucasian American spent his boyhood in rural New Guinea. His parents worked there as medical missionaries but returned to the states to ensure his status as an American-born citizen. He grew up in a village two hours by boat from Lae; Melanesian pidgin was his first language. He also learned the older language spoken in the district.
"A lot of the culture over there is the same as over here in Hawaii (since) stories and traditions are passed down in song and dance. There are a lot of elaborate costumes (in PNG) that are very difficult to recreate here because a lot of them use things that can't be exported or else (U.S.) Customs don't allow animal parts to come through -- rare bird feathers, iguana and crocodile skins -- and there are certain fruits and berries you need to make these certain colors."
Despite those challenges, O-shen plans to have some of his friends present simplified versions of the dances and costumes when he performs for Island Rhythm 98.5 Bomb Bucha 2002 at the Waikiki Shell tomorrow. Most of this season's hottest Jawaiian/"island music" acts will perform during the five-hour event.
The show's timing is good for O-shen because it comes just after the release of "Rascal in Paradise." The project, which O-shen co-produced with Roni "Hobo Diggler" Yurong, Lawrence Yurong, and Ronnie Esteban, of the Hobo House on the Hill organization, was another musical step forward in international Oceanic reggae and rap.
O-SHEN'S INTEREST in music goes back to his childhood, when he and his friends entertained themselves by singing in the village with boxes or other objects as percussion. Each Sunday he sang in church.
His life changed radically when his parents decided he should attend high school in America.
O-shen admits to making some mistakes. He graduated from high school and enrolled in college but cut classes and got into "negative things" and almost three years in prison.
"That was definitely a life-changing experience for me. It set me on a course to change my life and get out of the crowd I was hanging out with and leave the mainland and that lifestyle behind. Hawaii seemed like the only place for me because it still had a connection to America and I wanted to get into the music industry -- but yet it was still an island with island people and an island culture."
He came here and started fresh four years ago. This year, "Island Warriors" -- a compilation disc O-shen was featured in, along with Fiji, B.E.T., Baba B, Natural Vibrations, Mana 'Ohana, Sean Na'auao, Jamin the Chief Ragga, Ho'onu'a, Typical Hawaiians, Brimstone and Roots Odyssey -- was one of five nominees for Best Reggae Album at the Grammys.
O-shen's first album, "Iron Youth," established him as a unique talent. His second established his productive affiliation with the Hobo House ohana.
"I think the next step is to take the music farther than just our own shores. I feel I'm on a mission to do that. I'm not out here trying to get rich and famous, but I hope that in the future what I'm doing with my music will make a difference (and) maybe make some people think -- even if it's just one person."
O-shen can write and record romantic songs, and there are several of them on the new album. Other songs decry violence and call for the preservation of the cultural and language of island people.
"I've never gone more than two years without going back (to PNG) for a month or two. When I go home I feel said because I see the problems caused by modern society clashing with traditional customs. People were living in tribal customs just a few years ago and killing tends to be a lot more common over there. The traditional mentality mixed with modern weapons is not a good combination."
More positive in PNG is the mix of local music and nearly modern technology. O-shen says that cassette tapes still outnumber CDs but that PNG has its own version of MTV, and there's an active music scene going on even though many people are still living in isolated villages.
"They're still growing their own food and aren't part of the monetary system, but it's definitely an industry that's growing. I'd like to see a lot of that talent come up here. I hope I can open the door."
Featuring O-shen, B.E.T., Baba B, Ho'onua, Keahiwai, Darrell Labrado, Keahiwai, Sean Na'auao, Namahana, Native Blend, Natural Vibrations, Ten Feet and Three Plus Bomb Bucha 2002
Where: Waikiki Shell
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: Start at $9.85
Call: 526-4400
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