Hawaii Recording Artist Mailani has been familiar with pushing the boundaries of her craft since she was young. Mailani and schoolmate Lei Melkit met at Maryknoll School and found each other in music. After high school they released their debut album which would become a five-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner. Mailani would continue on to a successful solo career using the moniker “Mailani” and would continue to chart with hit songs and more Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
When asked if continuously finding ways to evolve as a business owner and a recording artist:
“No, it’s not difficult. Everyday is challenging but wearing different hats from performer to business entity/owner for me has been the same thing day in and day out.” -Mailani
Her latest venture has Mailani following the trend of other recording artists on a global scale; releasing and concentrating on “digital singles” rather than full release albums. Since the introduction of the internet, artists have been trying to find a better business plan in regards to their music. Now instead of releasing a full album where only 1 or 2 songs are hits; they are releasing them one by one and “dripping” them along so that the artist can focus their efforts and publicity towards the songs one at a time. Instead of spending a lot of money on a whole bunch of songs all at once, the artist is in control of what and when they release.
One distinction that differs Mailani from other artist in Hawaii, specifically Hawaiian Language music: Mailani is now releasing music videos to promotionally to go along with her songs. In a national scale, this is done to get the personality or face of the artist into the marketplace. Make them more palatable to the mainstream. Mailani seeks to do the same with her music.
She has done this before, but her release “Nani Ke Aloha” (which radio stations have been playing for about a month) is her first with a professional looking music video. It’s an opportunity to have a story within a story told, or to project a thought or personality. She uses the beauty of our islands as a perfect backdrop, the hints of hula tied in with her song are intriguing. Hopefully the ability to storyteller in this video fashion will continue to evolve as Mailani finds more avenues in which to project her music and her “brand”. A breath of fresh air in the genre of Hawaiian music, and more importantly HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE music.
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