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Inspired by the Broadway hit musical "Hamilton", KS Hawai‘i alumnus Daylan-Blake Kala‘i created a mele and music video "No Lili‘uokalani" in an expression of love for his culture and to honor and tell the story of our Queen. The video was released on November 11, 2018 on the 101st anniversary of her death. Lydia Lili‘u Loloku Walania Kamaka‘eha was anointed Queen Lili‘uokalani on January 29, 1891, as the sovereign monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i.

A Hamilton-inspired song to honor our Queen

Jan. 29, 2019

Contributed by Shaundor Chillingworth

To honor our Queen.

That was the motivation which sparked Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi alumnus Daylan-Blake Kalaʻi to create a mele and then a music video for “No Liliʻuokalani”.

A member of Kauluwena, KSH’s class of 2017, Kalaʻi began working on the song as a senior and after performing the song many times, was encouraged by his mom to create the video. This mele was inspired and derived from the opening number of the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel Miranda.

“I was very intrigued by how [Miranda] was able to tell American history through the hip-hop, rap genre,” Kala‘i told Hawaii News Now. “And knowing how successful it became, I thought, why can’t our culture be told through a genre that reaches the youth’s ear?”

Working with fellow alumni and current students over this past summer, the video was both recorded (audio) and filmed (video) over the course of four days. He officially released the video on November 11, 2018 on the 101st anniversary of Liliʻuokalani’s death. Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha was crowned Queen Liliʻuokalani on January 29, 1891, as the sovereign monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

“This has been a project that I started at the beginning of my senior year of high school and has been in development since,” shared Kalaʻi on his post releasing the video.

“It began simply as a rap that then evolved into this full length music video. This video is the result of where the state of this project is in now, but as all art is, it is still a work in progress. And I am not sure where the next phase is, but that is, too, all apart of the process.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone who was involved in the making of this. I could not have done it without you.”

Current KS Hawaiʻi senior Mamo Esera portrays Liliʻuokalani and sings on the track. Kalaʻi’s classmate Ryan Young filmed the video, which also features KSH ʻ18 alumni Kuʻuhiapo Jeong and Kaʻeo Cachola as dancers.

Between his Facebook posts and releasing the video on YouTube, the music video has received over 30,000 views and was featured by both Hawaiʻi News Now and KITV.

Kalaʻi is currently a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and has been actively pursuing his passion for music and theatre and showcasing his talents both at home and abroad. He was also a member of the cast who brought a Hawaiian opera to the world’s largest performing arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for the first time in the festival's 68 years.  

It’s only a matter of time before we see his name in lights on Broadway.  

 

See coverage on Hawaii News Now

See coverage on KITV

 

CREDITS

Queen Liliʻuokalani
MAMO ESERA

Boy
DAYLAN-BLAKE KALAʻI

Dancers
KĀʻEO CACHOLA
KUʻUHIAPO JEONG

Extras
KĀʻEO CACHOLA
CAMBRY CARENIO
DIAMOND CARRIAGA
CAYLA CARTER
KAʻAU ESTRELLA
KUʻUHIAPO JEONG
EMERALD KALAʻI
PEYTON KALAʻI
HAYVEN KALAʻI
RAYCEN KALAʻI
JAIME PARK

Hoʻopaʻa
KUʻUHIAPO JEONG

Sound & Vocalists
SOUND SCULPTURE RECORDING
KĀʻEO CACHOLA
MAMO ESERA
KYRA GOMES
KUʻUHIAPO JEONG
DAYLAN-BLAKE KALAʻI

Props & Implements
MAMO ESERA
KALEHUA SIMEONA
KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

Costumes
MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL
EMILY KAHELE

Special Mahalo
MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL
LUANA KAWELU
KAWENA KAWELU
KALEHUA SIMEONA
EMILY KAHELE
LAYNE RICHARDS
LEHUA VEINCENT
ROBERTA BENNETT
PIʻILANI KAʻAWALOA
MĀLANI ALAMEDA
SERENA POMROY
CLYDE LOA
MISTY CARTER
ALEIA KEKAUALUA
SAM BRADLEY
RYAN YOUNG

Nā Wahi
LILIʻUOKALANI GARDENS
KAMEHAMEHA STATUE
AHUʻENA
LEKELEKE BATTLE GROUNDS
UNITED STATES POST OFFICE AND COURT HOUSE

Video & Film
RYAN YOUNG PRODUCTIONS


Daylan-Blake Kalaʻi with Mamo Esera, who portrays Queen Liliʻuokalani in the music video "No Liliʻuokalani".


The video was officially released on Nov. 11, 2018 on the 101st anniversary of Liliʻuokalani's death.


Kalaʻi (center) leads the Hāʻupu cast up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland to promote their Hawaiian opera and encourage festival goers to attend.

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