In Tune With the Times
Photo courtesy Mahina CE Photography
Keilana’s songs are more than just performance art. They’re also a platform through which she educates listeners and inspires the next generation of musicians.
Keilana Mokulehua is proof that you can take the girl from the island, but you can’t take the island from the girl.
The songstress — who goes by mononym Keilana — recently moved to the Big Apple to further her music career, but she carries a bit of Hawai‘i with her wherever she goes. She returns home frequently to reconnect with friends, family and fans, but loves the windows of opportunity her bold move has created for herself and the future of local music.
“I’ve never lived or been away from Hawai‘i for a long period of time ever in my life until now, so moving from Hawai‘i to New York City has been quite an adjustment,” says the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama graduate. “There is so much talent in Hawai‘i and sometimes it takes just a few brave ones that leave and come back to create a movement and more opportunities.”
Upon landing in New York last September, Keilana immediately hit the ground running. She joined independent label Infinite Ethos and started working on her second album (set to be release early next year), and launched a collaborative project that blends the cultures of New York with her Hawaiian heritage.
Next month, she’ll release the single Fly while continuing work on her forthcoming full-length album. Fly is that quintessential fun, upbeat song to listen to on drives to the beach — the perfect song to end the summer. It’s also the first song she’ll be singing in two languages. The Spanish version pulls from her experiences in the Latin/Hispanic communities of New York.
“It’s about enjoying the moment,” Keilana says. “Things come to an end, but you can still cherish and be happy that you had the experience.”
Experiences are something Keilana has in droves, and it all started with giving back to others. She began her music career by playing in bars and hotels, where she quickly garnered a following.
Guests fell in love with her vocal stylings — powerful and soothing at the same time — and she wanted to do something to give them more, especially during the pandemic. But instead of more performances, she aimed to build a community centered on a love of music.
“I would create these Instagram livestreams daily, and I would have people tuning in from all over the world,” she recalls. “At first, I was singing whatever people wanted to hear and it became a regular thing people tuned in to hear.”
Keilana knew her gifts could be used for more than just a soothing serenade, so she started adding variety to her daily streams. On Music Mondays, she’d discuss tunes from a specific decade.
“We talked about the ’60s, and I researched and shared what was happening around the world, which influenced the music. It was a great way for me to hone my own education and widen my repertoire.”
From there, everything snowballed.
Her newfound confidence led her to create her first album, I Am, in 2020. That earned her two Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards — for Best R&B Album and Most Promising Artist ‚ in 2021. She became a sought-after performer and found her niche with local business Intimate Occasions, which put together picnics for small groups, notably for couples planning surprise proposals. Keilana would play a private concert while individuals dined.
From there, interest in having her play for weddings skyrocketed, especially as things started reopening in 2022. One in particular was the catalyst for her expeditious rise to fame. The nuptials of Don Benjamin and Liane V at Turtle Bay Resort featured a guest list filled with star-studded personalities, and Keilana remembers feeling nervous, though no one would have guessed it by her performance.
“One guest, R&B singer-songwriter Tank, saw what I was doing with the live looping,” she says. “He asked how I did that. This big crowd started gathering around us, asking Tank to sing, but he kept saying, ‘No.’ Everyone was whipping out their phones.”
Keilana asked Tank to join her for an acoustic rendition of his 2022 hit Can’t Let It Show, and the performance went viral on TikTok. Keilana went from 130 followers on the social media platform to more than 250,000 in just four days following the video. Her new fans loved her vocals but were also intrigued by her use of looping. The process revolves around a device that connects to an instrument and a microphone.
“Anything I play on my guitar or sing, I press the button and it records it,” she explains. “I’m able to build the song with different sounds, like percussions you do with your mouth.”
The end result is a full-bodied sound created by a single person. Indeed, Keilana is a one-woman band, providing bass, drum, beatboxing, instrumentals and vocals for each performance.
Looping has become popular in the local entertainment scene, but not so much on the mainland. It’s what gives her an edge in New York City, a little something that sets her apart and reminds her of home.
“It got popular when Ed Sheeran did it, but it wasn’t until I saw a local artist, Mike Love, do it in person that I knew I wanted to pick that up, too,” she says, adding that she toured with Love last year.
But Keilana’s experiences don’t stop there. It was also last year that she was invited to Washington, D.C., to perform as part of The White House Forum on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. She joined the ranks of leaders, motivational speakers and artists selected to share their talents with the nation. She performed the debut song off her first album, I Am.
There’s a line in the song that she feels captured the poignancy of the event: “I’m ready to change the world with my stories and your stories in a song, and I hope you’ll sing along.”
“I got to showcase the Hawaiian culture, and I even got to oli before I sang that song. I got all of these really important dignitaries to sing that song with me. It was a powerful moment.”
The impact was felt throughout the room, and she was asked to extend her stay to do a special performance of I Am at a White House dinner hosted by President Joe Biden.
“It’s a song that inspires,” she says. “It talks about speaking words of affirmation and speaking into existence the type of person you want to be.”
I Am might just be the reason her career doesn’t only revolve around music. She sits on the board of Women Speaking Out, a local nonprofit that educates teens and young adults about domestic and dating violence.
“We go into different schools and provide services and create fun events for teens to feel safe and help advocate for healthy relationships,” Keilana explains.
She also has partnered with a number of organizations to raise awareness for various causes. She’s particularly proud of her work with neuroblastoma-awareness nonprofit The Live For Lily Rose Foundation, for which she helped raise almost $2,000 to benefit a family whose child is battling cancer.
“I do everything I do to give back to the communities that raised me and to thank them,” she says. “My hope is that following my passion, educating, and sharing my journey will spark positive change, inspiration and ignite more good news in the world.
“My intent is to eventually gain so much insight, resources and networks, and create from new inspiration that it may inspire the next little island girl or boy that following your dreams and staying true to who you are isn’t so scary, and hopefully they won’t have to leave the islands to gain the resources and exposure that aren’t fully available just yet.”
Learn more online at keilanamusic.com or follow her on Instagram (@keilanamusic and @thetravelsongbird). To book Keilana for a performance, email keilanamgmt@gmail.com.
