Hawaiʻi Music • Aloha ʻĀina • Community • Cultural Connection • Music Education
Music From Hawaiʻi. A Voice for Hawaiʻi. Kuleana to Give Back.
There are songs we listen to.
And there are songs that remind us why we care.
Songs that make us look at the mountains differently.
The ocean differently.
The place we call home differently.
Songs that remind us that Hawaiʻi is extraordinarily beautiful—
and that loving these islands comes with responsibility.
For Support Local Hawaii, “My Hawaiʻi” by The Green is one of those songs.
It is beautiful. It is painful. It is hopeful.
And beneath all of it is a message every Steward of Hawaiʻi understands:
What we love, we must be willing to protect.
The Green has spent more than sixteen years carrying music from Hawaiʻi to audiences around the world. Formed on Oʻahu in 2009, the band grew from Hawaii’s close-knit music community into one of the islands’ most successful reggae groups, bringing a distinctly Hawaiʻi-rooted sound onto stages far beyond the Pacific.
But this recognition is not about record sales.
It isn’t about charts.
And it isn’t about fame.
It is about what happens when people who have been given a platform decide to turn around and use it for others.
Through music speaking openly about Hawaiʻi, benefit performances when communities are hurting, and the creation of Ka Maʻo to help Hawaii’s next generation find pathways into the music industry, The Green has increasingly transformed success into service.
For using their music to speak for Hawaiʻi, for standing with communities in times of need, and for investing their experience and resources into the musicians and music professionals who will come after them, Support Local Hawaii is proud to recognize The Green as a ♦ Diamond Steward of Hawaiʻi.
Born on Oʻahu
The Green formed on Oʻahu in 2009.
What began as six musicians from Hawaii’s interconnected music scene getting together to make music quickly became something much larger.
Their self-titled debut arrived in 2010. Their following grew. Albums reached the top of reggae charts. Touring took them across the continental United States and beyond, alongside major acts and onto festival stages where a Hawaiʻi band could introduce itself to people who had never experienced the islands’ contemporary music scene.
Over time, songs including “Love I,” “All I Need,” “Wake Up” and others became part of the soundtrack of a generation of island-reggae listeners.
But no matter how far the music traveled, Hawaiʻi remained present.
The band’s current work still centers themes of family, resilience and unity, and their 2026 album Titles was written and produced collectively at Ka Maʻo Studios in Honolulu.
They went out into the world.
But they kept a connection home.
My Hawaiʻi
In December 2019, The Green released a song that deserves a special place within this Steward profile.
“My Hawaiʻi.”
Featuring Sean Naʻauao, Kaumakaiwa and Kumu Hina, the recording brings English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi together in a song about Hawaii’s beauty, people and changing landscape.
The song arrived during a period when questions about land, culture, development, identity and the future of Hawaiʻi were impossible to ignore.
Ikaika Antone, who co-wrote the song, explained that the changes occurring across Hawaiʻi were not always serving the best interests of the land or its people.
And he described the song as being about something even deeper:
the importance of protecting Hawaiʻi.
Not somebody else protecting it.
Us.
The people who love this place.
The people raising children here.
The people inheriting decisions made today.
The people who understand that stewardship is not an abstract idea.
It is kuleana.
Antone specifically connected “My Hawaiʻi” to the responsibility of Stewards to set the right example so that Hawaii’s keiki have the tools to continue moving the islands in the right direction.
So closely aligned with our stewardship mission that it could almost have been written into the Support Local Hawaii Charter.
More Than a Song
The Green did something important with “My Hawaiʻi.”
They connected the message to action.
Proceeds from the song were designated for the Hawaiʻi People’s Fund, an organization that has supported grassroots movements and community change in Hawaiʻi since 1972.
That matters.
Because stewardship cannot stop at saying that Hawaiʻi should be protected.
Eventually, love has to become action.
Time.
Work.
Resources.
Teaching.
Giving.
Showing up.
“My Hawaiʻi” speaks about kuleana.
The decision to use the song to support community work helped put that kuleana into practice.
When Maui Needed Hawaiʻi
That same instinct became visible again after the devastating Maui wildfires of August 2023.
Hawaii’s creative community mobilized.
Artists performed.
Organizations collaborated.
People donated.
The first Maui Ola benefit concert raised more than $1 million for Maui relief, and when organizers expanded Maui Ola into an ongoing benefit series, The Green stepped forward for its second concert.
The band performed at the Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell, with the performance made available through a free livestream to encourage donations for those affected by the fires.
Ikaika Antone explained why simply:
The members of the band knew people affected by the fires, and they felt a responsibility to do what they could for people who had lost so much.
That is what community does.
When one island hurts, others answer.
When somebody has something to give, they give it.
Sometimes stewardship sounds like a chainsaw clearing a road.
Sometimes it looks like food being placed into someone’s hands.
And sometimes—
it sounds like music.
From Success to Kuleana
There comes a point in a successful career when an artist can ask a different question.
Not:
What can we achieve next?
But:
What can we make possible for someone else?
For The Green, part of the answer became Ka Maʻo.
The band founded the Hawaiʻi nonprofit after reflecting on more than fifteen years navigating the music industry.
They knew how difficult the path could be.
They had learned about recording.
Touring.
Production.
Business.
Performance.
Building audiences.
Making mistakes.
Finding opportunities.
And instead of allowing all of that hard-earned knowledge to remain inside the band, they decided to create a way to pass it on.
Ka Maʻo
Ka Maʻo exists to empower Hawaii’s next generation of music-industry professionals.
Not only singers.
Not only the person standing at the microphone.
Musicians.
Technicians.
Production crews.
Artists.
Industry professionals.
The many people whose work makes a creative ecosystem possible.
Through mentorship, workshops, community resources and developing programs, Ka Maʻo aims to share lessons The Green learned while building its own career and make opportunities more accessible to people coming next.
That is an important form of local stewardship.
Because Hawaiʻi does not simply need talented artists.
Hawaiʻi needs an ecosystem in which talented people can build lives around their talent.
Studios.
Engineers.
Producers.
Technicians.
Mentors.
Business knowledge.
Touring opportunities.
People willing to open a door that was difficult for them to open themselves.
Keeping ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi in the Music
One of Ka Maʻo’s developing programs brings this stewardship directly into cultural perpetuation.
The Lolena Music Program, named for ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi advocate Lolena Nicholas, provides professional recording opportunities at Ka Maʻo Studios at no cost to awardees.
Its purpose is to support singers and songwriters using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi or working to preserve songs written in the Hawaiian language.
Consider the circle being created here.
A Hawaiʻi band succeeds.
That success creates experience.
Experience helps create a studio and nonprofit.
The nonprofit creates access for another artist.
That artist records music in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
The language travels through another song.
Another listener hears it.
Another door opens.
Every part connects.
The Road Ahead
Ka Maʻo’s work is also moving beyond recording.
Its Road Ahead Program is being developed to support Hawaiʻi artists, musicians and production crews with travel, touring and production opportunities that can help local talent reach audiences beyond the islands and build sustainable careers.
There is something fitting about The Green helping create that road.
They walked it.
They know what it costs.
They know what they wish they had known.
And now they can make the journey a little more possible for someone behind them.
That is mentorship.
But it is also stewardship.
You learn the path.
Then you leave markers for the next person.
Bringing the Benefit Home
The Green has also begun connecting its own Hawaiʻi performances directly to Ka Maʻo.
During the band’s 2025 Hawaiʻi tour, meet-and-greet sales were designated to benefit the nonprofit and its work supporting local artists, musicians and crew. At the Maui Arts & Cultural Center performance, concertgoers were additionally encouraged to bring food donations for the Maui Food Bank.
Again, the pattern matters more than any single event.
Music creates attention.
Attention creates opportunity.
Opportunity creates resources.
And those resources can be redirected toward community.
Visibility becomes service.
That is exactly the kind of cycle Support Local Hawaii exists to make visible.
Why Support Local Hawaii Recognizes The Green
A Diamond Steward is not simply someone who represents Hawaiʻi well.
Diamond recognition is reserved for those demonstrating exceptional stewardship through action.
The Green has carried Hawaiʻi music around the world.
That deserves celebration.
But it is not, by itself, why they belong here.
They belong here because they have increasingly used what they built to give something back.
They used “My Hawaiʻi” to speak about protecting Hawaiʻi and directed proceeds toward grassroots community work.
They stepped forward when Maui needed help.
They created Ka Maʻo to invest in Hawaii’s next generation of musicians, technicians and creative professionals.
They are creating professional opportunities for artists carrying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
And they are sharing knowledge accumulated across more than sixteen years so the road might be a little wider for whoever comes next.
That is leadership.
That is kuleana.
And that is why Support Local Hawaii proudly recognizes The Green as a ♦ Diamond Steward.
Diamond Stewardship in Action
Aloha ʻĀina — “My Hawaiʻi” speaks directly to protecting Hawaii’s land, people and future, while proceeds from the song were directed to the Hawaiʻi People’s Fund.
Community Response — The Green stepped forward as part of the Maui Ola benefit effort following the 2023 fires, using music and its audience to encourage support for Maui.
Music Education & Mentorship — Through Ka Maʻo, the band is turning years of industry experience into opportunities, mentorship and resources for Hawaii’s emerging creative professionals.
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi — Ka Maʻo’s Lolena Music Program provides professional recording opportunities supporting artists who use Hawaiian language or perpetuate songs written in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
Local Creative Economy — The Road Ahead Program aims to help Hawaiʻi artists, musicians and production crews access touring, travel and production opportunities beyond the islands.
Giving Forward — The band’s Hawaiʻi performances have been used to generate support for Ka Maʻo, connecting The Green’s established audience with the next generation coming behind them.
My Hawaiʻi
There is a reason this song belongs on this page.
Not as background music.
Not as a popular track.
But as part of the Steward story.
Because beneath the melody is a question:
What will happen to the place we love?
And beneath that question is another:
What are we willing to do about it?
Every Steward on Support Local Hawaii answers that question differently.
Some plant kalo.
Some restore fishponds.
Some protect forests.
Some feed keiki.
Some rescue animals.
Some teach language.
Some preserve knowledge.
Some stand in a recording studio and make a song capable of reminding thousands of people, all at once, that these islands are beautiful—
fragile—
changing—
and worth protecting.
And sometimes a song reaches the person who needed to hear it.
Maybe they look at Hawaiʻi differently afterward.
Maybe they learn.
Maybe they volunteer.
Maybe they protect something.
Maybe they teach their keiki.
Maybe they simply decide that from this day forward, they will take better care of the place beneath their feet.
One song cannot protect Hawaiʻi.
But it can awaken something in one person.
And one person can protect a reef.
Restore a loʻi.
Help a neighbor.
Teach a child.
Stand up for a place.
Or reach down and save one starfish.
Then another.
Then another.
That is why the music matters.
That is why the message matters.
And that is why, when The Green sings “My Hawaiʻi,” Support Local Hawaii hears something very familiar.
Aloha for this place.
Kuleana to those who came before us.
Responsibility to those who will come after us.
Protect what you love.
Give back what you can.
And leave Hawaiʻi stronger for the next generation.
This is stewardship.
This is Aloha in action.
This is our Hawaiʻi.
Discover & Support The Green
Origin: Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
Formed: 2009
Stewardship Areas: Hawaiʻi Music • Aloha ʻĀina • Music Education • ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi • Youth & Mentorship • Creative Economy • Community Support
Community Initiative: Ka Maʻo
Featured Stewardship Song: “My Hawaiʻi”
Support Local Hawaii Recognition: ♦ Diamond Steward
