Tuesday, March 12, 2013

How EDM changed the local bradah



Hey, man, remember back in the day when you were a local bradah? Your truck was lifted, you wore rubba slippas, surf shawts, and a Flexfit hat backwards, and the only thing you listened to was Jawaiian music. It may be hard to remember, but this was once your lifestyle. Things have obviously changed since then. You've traded in your truck for a sporty, slick car, you no longer wear rubba slippas or hats but the most up-to-date styled shoes and you only gel your hair, and finally the only thing blasting from your stereo is EDM (Electric Dance Music) or as we local bradahs call it, "uunce uunce" music.

The said local bradah used to be a solid bradah and boy was his mada and fada proud. He jammed the ukulele, he wala'au'd with the aunties and uncles, drank Heinekens, and spoke the native tongue of a local bradah: pidgin. Sure, he listened to Eiffel 65's "Blue" song for shits and giggles, but it was never a part of his music forefront. Then a few years later, a friend introduced Avicii's "Levels" and HO NAH, he was hooked.

His time spent on Youtube was instantaneously transformed from watching Rebel Souljahz live at graduation parties to large music festivals filled with an ocean of people fist-pumping to DJs spinning on the ones and twos. No longer did he frequent Mai Tai's to hang with da boys and drink straight out of the beer pitcher. Instead, he scoured the back alleys of Honolulu to find out where the hottest underground raves were being held. He went from training jiu-jitsu to starting an entertainment promoting company so he could cruise with the coolest EDM DJs. Life was new, things were different. 

It wasn't long ago when the said local bradah would exclaim to his friends, "Auuuuryte! Brah, dis weekend it's on! We going BBQ down Sandys and spahk out all da chicks. Me and Kalani Boy going bring da grinds, da rest of you frickas bedda just bring down da beeahs and da podageese horseshoes. You guys not going beat me like last time!" However, now the conversations tend to go along the lines of, "Dude! Let's go to that rave this weekend, bro! We're gonna roll so hard and get weird! Kalani and I will bring the rolls, you brosephs better just bring down the water and glow sticks. You better not mess up your light show like last time!"

The said local bradah would also say, "Ho brah, we go check out da Fiji concert dis weekend! Cheeeheee! I heard going get J-Boog, Kolohe Kai, Tree Plus, and one spesho appearance by da lead singer of Koa'uka too!" What about now?  "Hey bro, I can't wait to check out that Above & Beyond concert this weekend at Kaka'ako! It'll totally be different than that dubstep concert we went to last week. I've been listening to their set from their most recent festival--of course, it's sick."

There were also times when the said local bradah would say, "Brah, let's go Vegas go gambo! My aunty who live over dea get deals for one hotel, we go!" And now? "Bro, save up, we're going to Vegas for EDC this year. My aunty who lives over there has the hook up on rolls, so we're covered. It's going to be insane, bro."

In these trying times, the makeup of a local bradah has changed. The next generation may never know how a real local bradah should be. Who will save the keiki?


Flushing the toilet no longer skanking, but only fist-pumping,


Loa