Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 6, 1 Iune 1999 — "LOCAL BOY" BABA B [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

"LOCAL BOY" BABA B

//I OCALBOr is I Baba B's follow-up to "Big Boy In Love" that brought us "Iz, I Wanna Be Like You" and earned him a

k Hōkū nomination as Most Promising tjfi Artist. His fledgling music career has taken M him far, wowing fans - \ 4 especially the 'ōpio - ■ with local-style pop and y easy themes of love and V hfe. ( "I would like to send a big mahalo to all my fans" he says in liner notes. Those fans, as four weeks of GD sales indicate nnmher at

least 10,000. The dozen contemporary selections, the majority his own, define tastes of a younger

generation eager to embrace the non-traditional. In "Westside Pride," Baba B counts heroes in Leeward success stories: Hui 'Ohana; Moon, John and Jerome; Del "The Beaz" Beazley; Abe Keala; Third Road Delight; Three Scoops of Aloha; and his idol, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. "Mākua," "Loeal Boy" and "Windward

ude are among cuts with a contemporary, loeal pop feel. "L-0-V-E Love," a ballad with piano accompaniment, shows off his versatihty both as a performer and songwriter. Ēehow recording artist Keali'i ■ Blaisdell contributed "Come With Me," a I melancholy tune offering an ultimatum: ā 4<īf vnn 1p«vp walk flwav anH Hnn't

** ^ ' vi " "*** - " - look back. If you should stay, walk my way and eome with me" " Hawaiian Feeling," with a decidedly reggae feel, 1 weaves the Loeal Motion oeean wear

jingle with Braddah Waltah's " Keep Hawaiian Lands in Hawaiian Hands."

Produced by Jett Kasmussen tor me rat ts.atz label, it is summed up by Baba B (Christopher Badoyen) who says, "Music is da bomb." ■