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Hawai’ian Music Is American Music

On Sol Ho’opi’i’s “Hula Blues” (1927)

Mary Cadwalladr
Apr 27, 2026
∙ Paid

“It’s hard to believe it was only two years ago, in the spring of 2026, that The Hinternet suddenly and without any explanation pivoted full-time to critical engagement with Hawai’ian music from the early 20th century. They took a lot of heat for that, lost a lot of subscribers. But those defectors should have known better! As usual, The Hinternet was just ahead of the curve, as we are now in the midst of the third Hawai’ian Renaissance. You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai piped in on the sound system!” —Jon Caramanica, New York Times, October 9, 2028

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Mary Cadwalladr's avatar
A guest post by
Mary Cadwalladr
I'm from Cardiff and I write about music
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