Wonder #1: Exploring a New Type of Music
One afternoon, Ron came home from basketball (yes, he still plays at 73!) with a mischievous grin. “Want to learn how to lay down some hip-hop beats?” he asked.
I laughed. “I know zero about hip-hop music… but sure, let’s try.”
Soon after, Ron’s friend Andre, a professional producer, showed up at our house with his laptop. We set up in the living room—him at the computer, me with my ukulele. No fancy studio, just cozy chairs, mugs on the floor, and music waiting to be born.
Andre was a wonderful teacher. He explained the basics, clicked through menus on the screen, and showed me how beats layer together like puzzle pieces. Then he asked for my input.
I told him I wanted something unexpected—a playful fusion of hip-hop with Hawaiian flavor. We searched through his sound library until I found exactly what I wanted: the strum of a ukulele, the calls of tropical birds, the crash of ocean waves, and the sparkle of steel drums.
When we started layering them, I closed my eyes to listen more deeply. The hip-hop rhythm pulsed like a heartbeat, and the ukulele lifted the room with a breeze of island sunshine. For a moment, I could almost smell salt air drifting in through the shutters.
Together, we blended it all into something new. We called it Hip-Hop Hula.
It isn’t a full song yet—no melody or lyrics—but the beats are alive, ready for more.
