Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Watchamacallit: Darryl Labrado and "Da Kine"



This song with a reggae groove is performed by Darryl Labrado, a Hawaiian musician who became a teen star. I couldn't find a ton of information on Labrado at present, but an article about Labrado's early years details a hard life marred by a family with poverty, substance abuse, and physical abuse. Things were so bad that growing up Labrado didn't live in a house with running water, but had to use a waterfall nearby, and the roof leaked so much that Labrado and his brother kept having to move their bed to keep it from getting wet. However, he was discovered at age 10, put out his first single at age 11, released his first video at 14 (which promptly won best music video at the Hawaiian Music Awards and aired on Hawaiian Airlines for four years) and that same year released his first album and this hit single, Da Kine. You can find Da Kine on Labrado's 1999 album Shaka the Moon, and on the 2000 various artists compilation Island Roots. The title of the song refers to a very versatile term in Hawaiian Pidgin English.

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