What is the Nature of the

criticism surrounding the

winning albums of the Hawaiian
Grammy Award?
Stephan Sakhai
Zach Cagen
Abel Torres
• 1) Daniel Ho is not Native Hawaiian nor currently
resides in Hawaii, and therefore doesn’t
represent true Hawaiian music and culture.
• 2) Slack Key is not true Hawaiian Music and
doesn’t represent true Hawaiian culture.
• 3) Those voting on the Grammy winners are not
the most adequate nor the most knowledgeable
about Hawaiian music and its culture.
• 4) Most of the winning albums have been
compilations and they don’t represent true
Hawaiian music and culture.
 Daniel Ho is not Native Hawaiian nor
currently resides in Hawaii.
• Background information:

• -Daniel was born in Kaimuki, Hawaii.

• -He went to Music school in
California, but returned and attended
college at the University of Hawaii.
• -After graduation he went back to
California and started his career
‘making music’.
• -Since then he has been living in
California- BUT, he has been making
and performing Hawaiian music.
Why do some people think that Daniel, and other non-Hawaii residents,
shouldn’t be eligible to win the Grammy for Best Hawaiian Album?

• -Location is very important for some Hawaiians because

some believe that by moving to a new place (Daniel Ho,
CA) you forget some of your culture and accustom
yourself to a new culture, also taking wins and
recognition away from those Hawaiians still living there.
 What are some criticisms?
• Taropatch: Local Grammy Controversy Continues
• “The four nominated groups and artists who didn't win
began fielding calls of condolences and some outrage
from friends, fans and family in Hawaii over the fact that
Brotman is not Hawaiian.” ---Ho, one of the other
producers on the winning album was also criticized for
the same reason. The fact that he was not Hawaiian
made him “less able” to perform ‘good’ Hawaiian music.
• -Tim Ryan
 What are some other criticisms?
•
Taropatch: Local Grammy Controversy Continues
 

• Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, director and professor at the University of Hawaii's

Center for Hawaiian Studies, got into the act, telling a local television news
reporter that non-Hawaiians awarded a non-Hawaiian for packaging
Hawaiian culture (in response to the previous quote by Tim Ryan).

• "What she's saying is that only Hawaiians should perform

Hawaiian music and only Hawaiians should be allowed to
enter the Hawaiian music category,"
– Lorenzo (explaining Kame’eleihiwa)
 What are people responding?
• Of course comments like these would bring outrage to many on
the opposite end of the argument…
• Lorenzo continued to remark about Professor
Kame'eleihiwa’s comment: "That's racist, plain
and simple.
• -Lorenzo

• “The award is for Hawaiian music, and not just

Hawaiians are eligible”
• -Hewett

• Being Hawaiian "should not be a prerequisite for the award.”

• -Linkner *
 And others are responding…
• “Daniel Ho, as one of several producers on these
winning compilations, "wins" the award, as
producers get it for compilations. The artists who
have appeared on "his" winning releases include:
George Kahumoku, Jr. Dennis Kamakahi, Sonny Lim, Keoki Kahumoku, Owana Salazar,
Kawika Kahiapo, Jeff Peterson, Daniel Ho, Richard Ho’opi’I, Bobby Ingano, Ledward
Kaapana, Cyril Pahinui, Martin PahinuiDa, ‘Ukulele Boyz, Sterling Seaton, Ozzie Kotani

• I want the "Eric Gilliom"s of the world to tell me

that these people don't represent Hawaiian music.”
• -Leo Lakio*
• These responses show that although there are some
people who think Daniel, and other artists who are
not living in Hawaii or Native Hawaiian, should not be
eligible to win the Grammy award, there are still those
who believe that everyone should have the chance. As
Hewett remarked, all people should be eligible to win
an award if there album is better then someone else's.
• However, the fact that Daniel is not living there and
not Native Hawaiian is only one part of the criticism.
There are also people are also against Daniel winning
because of his use of the Slack Key Guitar, believing
that it is not representative of True Hawaiian song and
culture. This is the next criticism we will discuss…
 Questions for Thought
• What do you think about this first criticism; is
it reasonable?

• Do you think Daniel should be reprimanded

and put down for not being Native Hawaiian
and not living there?
 Slack Key is not true Hawaiian Music and
doesn’t represent true Hawaiian culture.

Background:
• -Fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii
during the 19th century.
• -Slack key was developed alongside Hawaiian dance and song,
and adapted to work along side the steel guitar and the
‘ukulele.
 Defining Slack Key:
• -Defining what Slack Key really is is very controversial, but many
define it similarly:
• ---”wat is slack key? You can tell wen you hear it ...” (pg 4)*
• ---”We may never agree on a definition of slack key, but we'll
always know it when we hear it.” (pg3)*

• “Played from the heart and soul through the fingers, and
flowing with vivid tropical images, Hawaiian slack key (ki ho'alu)
is truly one of the great acoustic guitar traditions in the world.
In slack key, some of the strings are slacked from the standard
tuning, with the thumb playing the bass while the other fingers
play the melody and improvisation in a finger-picked style.”
• -Winston*
 Well, What are people saying?
• Taropatch: Local Grammy Controversy Continues 
• “No one expected it to win,” (the slack-key
album) said Linkner. "Slack key really isn't
unique to Hawaii, so I don't really understand
why it fell into the category. It's prevalent
here but not uniquely Hawaiian.”
• -Linkner*
And what other people are saying:
•  ”Ho should politely decline the nomination
and give someone else a chance. I just wish he
hadn't been nominated again. At this point, I'll
be happy if anyone but Daniel Ho wins.
Nothing against him, but recognition for a
non-slack key artist is long overdue, and it's
time that those damn voters realize that.”
• -Lei Liko Ali`I (12/2007)
 What people are responding:
• In response to Linkner on Taropatch: Local Grammy
Controversy Continues:
• Hewett disagrees. "Slack key is Hawaiian music," he
said. "And it's the music the (voters) chose.”

• "I'm Hawaiian, and our music is for anyone to enjoy,

to listen, to play. How can we all live together with
comments like hers? Music is a universal
language.”*
• -Hewett
 And others are responding:
• In response to Lei Liko: “I know I said this last
year, but come on: Should you vote based on
whose turn it is, or should you vote based on
whose album is truly the best of the year? I
also agree with the comments saying that if a
slack key album is best, then it shouldn’t
matter that the genre keep winning”
• -LikaNui Ali`I (12/2007)
• There are both people for and against Slack Key
albums. Some people believe that even if a Slack
Key album is better then a non-Slack Key album, it
should still win because it is ‘its turn’. However,
others respond saying whoever is the best should
win! What brings in even more controversy and
argument is over just this. Who is the best? How to
we determine who is the best?
• Simply put- the voters. However, many Hawaiians
don’t trust the opinions of those voters believing
they don’t know what true Hawaiian music is and
don’t know the culture.
• Therefore, the argument over the voters begins.
 Questions for Thought
• Do you all think that Slack Key is deserving of a
Grammy award if there are doubts on whether
it is truly Hawaiian?

• Do you think Slack Key should be considered

True Hawaiian music if it was brought by
outsiders?
Those voting on the Grammy winners are not
the most adequate nor the most
knowledgeable about Hawaiian music and its
culture.
• Background:
• -Voters can select nine fields of music in which they feel
like they have the most expertise
• -Within each field reside several categories:
• The “Best Hawaiian Music Album” resides in the Folk
field: Included in the folk field is Best Traditional Folk,
Best Contemporary Folk/Americana, Best Native
American and Best Zydeco or Cajun Album categories.
•  Location already being an important issue, people are
also outraged because the voters mostly live in the
states, and if you live in the states, "then you don't know
much about the culture". All Grammy voters are
involved in the creative and technical aspects of
recording.  They come from every corner of the
industry.  Many voters are not familiar with Hawaiian
music, and the nominated albums may be the first that
they have ever heard.  Considering the broad range of
talents being represented, the winner of a category such
as the Best Hawaiian Album will be one that appeals to
mainstream America.  Obviously this can't please
everyone.
 What are people saying?
• “This year, I think the
• winner will be a toss-up
• between Tia and "Treasures...",
• based partly on her name
• being recognizable, as
• well as the familiarity
• of "slack key" to voters.”
• -Retro
 And what others are saying:
• “I would like to see other genre of Hawaiian
music be rewarded and awarded. But, that's
difficult, as many of the voters are not
attuned to the culture of Hawaiian music in
its many forms. Ki'hoalu is now popular
worldwide. The Hawaiian language is not.
Maybe in time”
• -PorkBun*
 And others…
• So what you guyz, you tink had any judges from
Hawaii in da grammy hui or wot? I doubt it, yeah. Oh
well, maybe next year Tia going win again...heh-heh.
(pg1)
• -makolelau*
• -”Pure hollywood bunk! these people know no more
about hawaiian slack key, than locals know about blue
grass fiddles. you might say, daniel ho is a compilation
of hollywood imagination.”
• -WarriorTojo *
 And even others…
• “The Academy members have not the
intelligence nor the patience to listen to
anything not sung in English. I know we had
high hopes here, but Stevie Wonder could
have seen it coming. There's no way a old,
white, male mainland voting body would have
given the award to any of the other albums.”
• -Kilinahe
 What are people responding?
• “Sorry, but as I understand it (and as the Star-
Bulletin article mentions, I think), each
Grammy voter is only allowed to vote in seven
categories (out of more than 100) and they
must be knowledgeable in the 7 categories for
which they do vote.”
• -LikaNui
 And others are responding…
• “All Grammy voters are involved in the creative and
technical aspects of recording.  They come from every
corner of the industry.  Many voters are not familiar
with Hawaiian music, and the nominated albums may
be the first that they have ever heard.  Considering
the broad range of talents being represented, the
winner of a category such as the Best Hawaiian Album
will be one that appeals to mainstream America. 
Obviously this can't please everyone.”
• -Cagen
 And others are rationalizing:
• It was a win for Hawaiian music as a genre to even be represented
at the Grammy's this year, but I think the Hawaiian music industry still
has a lot of educating to do of the people who vote on the Grammy's. I
think they chose the slack key CD as Best Hawaiian music because they
still don't understand what Hawaiian music is...it's not just a melody but
the words that go with it, too. I think this CD won because it was the
"safest" of the choices. Everybody knows what a guitar is, and most
people have heard slack key guitar music. It is true that slack key guitars
are unique to Hawai'i, though. But I don't think any of the Hawaiian
music nominees has anything to be ashamed of. They will always
be known as the first nominees for the Grammys, and they
represent the true Hawaiian music.
• -Miulang
• Although there are a lot of people who feel
like the Grammy’s aren’t truly representative
of the Best Hawaiian Album because of who is
voting, they must realize that it is still in the
beginning of its creation. It has only been an
award for six years, and it takes time to create
something substantial and ‘perfect’ for both
Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians. Hopefully, in
time, the Grammy’s will be adapted so there is
less controversy surrounding it and more
people will recognize the true beauty of the
albums winning each year.
 Questions for Thought
• Do you think the voting process is fair for not
as known or recognized awards such as The
Best Hawaiian Album?

• Do you think there is a way to remedy the

situation?
-i.e. A new voting process or a new
voting population
 Most of the winning albums have been compilations and
they don’t represent true Hawaiian music and culture.

• Background:
• Definition: A compilation album is an album, music or
spoken-word, featuring tracks from either a single or
multiple recording
artists, often pulled from a variety
of sources.
-All the winning albums have been
compilations, except for 2009 when
Daniel Ho performed “Ikena” with
Tia Carrere.
 What are people saying?
• “I just don't think a "collection" of music from assorted artists
merits an honor as high as a Grammy, much less the FIRST
Hawaiian music Grammy. It's really a pity that this assortment
of very good music was allowed to detract from the people
who worked to put out complete albums of the highest
caliber. It takes a lot more work to write, perform and
produce an album by a single artist or group than it does to
collect good works from many artists for compilation.”
• “What I can't figure out is why a compilation disc got
nominated?”
• “As I have said in the past, compilations should be excluded.”
• -zztype*
 Response:
• “If the voters think the ki hoalu compilation is a better
album than Amy's album, that's how they should vote,
no matter how many compilations have won in the past.”
• -scrivener
• “This is probably one reason why these compilation
albums have won every year, they offer a taste of many
different forms. And this way the voters can vote for
eight or ten artists instead of just one (or one group).”
• -Lawrence
• “There are some people who very avidly believe that compilations
should not be eligible to win the Grammy award. They believe it is
easier to create a compilation because you are just putting
together different artists into one album. However, more people
seem to like this kind of album because they get a variety of
different artists playing similar, yet not identical, music. Also, by
multiple artists being represented on the album, these artists
become recognized and established, further enhancing the
Hawaiian music genre. and their careers.”
• -Sakhai
 Questions for Thought
• Do you think that compilations are a fair way
to win the Grammy since one person isn’t
doing all the work?

• Do you think there is a way to get around this?

Should we get around this?
• We were able to find opinions from people
who are knowledgeable and passionate about
the Hawaiian Grammy Award controversy.
• However, we wanted to see what people who
had no prior knowledge of the situation felt if
they were pressed in the middle of it.
• So, we conducted a survey of young facebook
users and asked their opinions…
• Here are our results:
 Facebook Survey:
•  Daniel Ho is a 5 time Grammy Award winning
artist/producer for the Best Hawaiian Album category,
which became a category 6 years ago. He has won 5 out
of the past 6 years. Although he is undeniably talented,
he is not native Hawaiian, and currently resides and
works in Los Angeles. Many Hawaiians are upset with the
fact that Daniel Ho is eligible for this award despite this.
Do you think that Daniel Ho should be eligible for this
award?
• Yes: 46 – 65.7%
• No : 24 – 34.3%
 Questions for Thought
• Do you think the Facebook results show any conclusive or
interesting information?

• What do you think about uninfluenced people believing in Daniel

Ho, and other non-resident Hawaiians, winning the award? Opinion.

• Do you think there are ways to improve this survey?

• What do you think is the most/least important for a nominee to

have- Native Hawaiian, living in Hawaii, playing Slack-Key, putting
together compilations, or something else?
 Other’s Conclusions:
• “It would be premature to draw a conclusion
on this topic at this point in time. And it will
not be resolved here in this forum. There are
legitimate reasons for the uproar in the
Hawaiian Music community concerning this
and not all of those who have concerns have
expressed their opinions or reasons for the
bitterness and opposition.”
• -Peter Medeiros
 Other’s Conclusions (continued)
• “If you don't like it or are against Daniel winning
because of his lack of Hawaiian heritage and/or
residence, then don't buy his albums.  This is capitalism,
and every person has the right to try to earn a living.”
• -Cagen*
 Others Conclusions (continued)
• “Well, I think people should
be able to record any kind of
music they want as long as they
are not harming the culture and
doing it in a professional way.
So, just because Daniel lives in
California and is accustomed to a
different culture and views Hawaiian
culture differently, doesn’t mean
he should be prohibited from
creating Hawaiian music.”
-Torres
 Our Group Conclusions:
• -There are many controversies and criticisms that
the winning albums of the Best Hawaiian Album in
the Grammy’s face. We looked at four larger
controversies, ones that overlooked other
controversies and have been argued over all six
years of the award.
• -Most of the criticism is linked back to one main
argument: that the winning albums and their
producers/artists don’t represent TRUE Hawaiian
music and culture.
 Conclusions (continued)
• From conversation on blogs, websites, and
articles we were able to find the criticisms
that Daniel Ho personally faced. He is seen as
an outsider to some, and as some people
think, a misrepresentation of Hawaii and its
culture. However, these people may be biased
because they are not fortunate enough to be
winning themselves or know others residing in
Hawaii that are not being recognized.
 Conclusions (continued)

• Also, people complain that Slack Key albums

and compilation albums, both of which are
majority of the winning albums, are not
representative of TRUE Hawaiian music and its
culture. However, most of these complaints
are matched by others who acknowledge and
appreciate that Hawaiian music is being
recognized at all.
 Conclusions (continued)
• Once again, they may realize that it is just the
beginning of this award in the mainland states,
and that it takes time to evolve the award to
please the most possible people. Until then
there will still be complaints and criticisms when
Daniel Ho, Slack-Key albums, or compilations
win the Grammy’s. However, there are still going
to be those who appreciate the beauty of the
winning music and take it in as the category, and
the music it wishes to reward, evolves with time.
• Side note opinion: Maybe they should look to
work with Daniel Ho and get in on some of the
action.
 How to improve:
• The Facebook survey was a little condensed and could
therefore use further improvement.
• 1) The question could be separated into asking about a.
location b. Native Hawaiian
• 2) Also, we could use further research from different
populations and niches in order to gather different results: i.e.
our facebook friends, Professor Stillmans facebook friends,
Taropatch users, or Native Americans who are going through
the same controversies for Best Native American Music Album
• 3) Having a blog section where we can ask users which
criticism is most important and what are the most important
factors in winning the grammy. i.e. not living in Hawaii, not
being Native, playing Slack Key, using compilations
 Structure for Website:
• There should be four options to click on that will take
you to a different page- one for each criticism
• Once you get to the new link all the information for
that link will be presented
• At the end of each ‘sub’-presentation there should
be a comment box- this will follow the “questions for
thought” section which will try to get people
involved
• People will have the option to comment in any of the
categories and discuss any of the criticisms
separately.