Kalaʻi Miller: Aloha, I’m Kalaʻi Miller.

Welcome to Home is Here.

In this episode, we introduce you to two local artists taking big  leaps to follow their dreams.

For Kalany Omengkar, making art started out as just a fun hobby.

But as  you’ll see, the real heart of his creativity comes from something deeper—and a lot more personal.

Kalany Omengkar: I think art has just been always in me.

I like to think I came out  just starting to draw already.

I come from just artists.

My dad is a is an artist.

My grandfather was a traditional Palauan storyboard artist.

And then his father, and then  before them.

So carving and telling stories, telling Palauan stories have always  been part of my, my history and my identity.

My name is Kalany Omengkar.

I'm a  Micronesian artist based out here in Hawaiʻi.

I never had the intention of putting my art in  the gallery space.

I didn't really see myself as an artist in that way.

I was always like a  graphic designer.

Just like any other you know, high school kid, my parents wanted me to you  know, go to college.

I just couldn't afford to go to art school.

It just wasn't possibility for  me.

So I decided, you know, I'm gonna go to KCC, take some art classes there, and see where I  go from there.

And at the time, I was working at the beach, you know, just because I thought  it was fun, if I was going to work anywhere, I would be a beach boy.

And from there, and I'd  see the tourists walk by in their in their aloha shirts and in the products that they bought  across Waikīkī and, and I think to myself, you know, I could design that.

I could do that.

So, I just drafted up a little portfolio and I submitted them to a couple of companies on  island, and I was fortunate enough that they were able to able to pick me up despite  not having a degree or finishing school.

I'm working as a graphic designer for a local  company, designing t-shirts, aloha shirts, and, and it's a blast.

I’m learning so much.

And  I have this great mentor that works with me, and it's just me and him tag teaming.

And after  six years, my mentor looks at me and he says, is this what you want to do ‘til you retire?

And I  didn't know how to answer him, and he said, if you want to stay here, this is what it looks like.

And he was pointing to himself, and you'll be, you'll be like me, one of the great artists that  Hawaii has never known.

Or you can try it out and, you know, go the artist route and figure out your  story for yourself.

And at that point I thought, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to go on this by  myself.

These images aren't the legends exactly, you know, so and the legends can can change from  village to village, from island to island, and so these are just my interpretations.

So, it's these  kind of grand, very dramatic and Shakespearean type of stories that not a lot of people know  about, and the stories that I grew up and I wanted to depict and share.

And when I posted  them online, I was a little hesitant.

Because I'm still learning about my culture, and I'm still  learning about Micronesia.

But as I posted these personal paintings on my Instagram, it started  to get traction.

People started to reshare my paintings and these stories that eventually some  curators were putting together a collection of Micronesian art over at the downtown Art Center in  July of 2023 and they contacted me.

So I was lucky enough to go there and.

I submitted eight pieces,  and from there, it just kind of took off.

After that show in December, I was invited to the East  West Center, where they had an exhibit strictly for Palauan art.

And it was art depicting, it was  art about Palauan storyboards.

After I submitted my art to the East West Center, I decided to walk  around the gallery before it opened, and I come across this old this picture of this old man and  his artwork that were on, on display, and the name was my great grandfather's name.

So, I didn't even  think that was him.

I knew that my grandfather, my great grandfather, was a storyboard carver,  but I had never seen his art, or I've never seen a photo, even a photo of him.

I took a photo of  the man, and I sent it over to my dad, and I said, hey, is this who I think this is?

And he says, oh,  man, that's your that's your great grandfather.

And those legends are his, his stories.

In that  moment when I saw my great grandfather's piece, and just seeing it was an overwhelming feeling.

As a professional artist himself, he sold all his work to make a living so the family doesn't  have his pieces.

So, seeing it firsthand was, was an amazing experience.

Here's my grandpa's  art.

I could, probably shouldn't have touched it, but I touched it, you know, and it created a  deeper drive in me to, to look back and look in, like where I'm from, and, and try to make it back  to Palau and see where, see where I come from.

(Chanting in Palauan) Kalany Omengkar: So in 2024 I get invited to be a part of  the Palauan delegation for the 2024 FESTPAC.

(Chanting and singing in Palauan) Kalany Omengkar: It's happening in Hawaii.

And it's this event  where, a like, majority of the island nations in the Pacific are coming to a particular island to  showcase their art, their culture, their dances, and just share about their culture.

And for  me, having not grown up in Palau, and never, you know, never been to Palau, and I don't  even speak Palauan, and I was invited to be a part of the Palauan delegation to represent  my people and my country.

And it was just like this biggest honor.

And I still feel this, oh.

Um, I don't know the sense of this hesitation about my art being displayed, because now it's  in front of my cultural leaders.

They're gonna come.

They're the biggest critiques of my  art and and they love it.

They come up, and they use my art as a teaching tool.

And they  have, like, I have, this traditional leader, and he has this group of people who are part  of his storytelling workshop, and he's using my art to tell the legend and the story behind  it and the lesson.

Then a few weeks later, I get this invitation saying there's going to be  a gallery exhibit during the celebration over at the Palau capital, and they wanted me to be one of  the featured artists, to be on display.

And it was just things happening again, like coincidence  or just magic, the universe just working.

I just decided I'm going to tape up my art  pieces, pack them, and just bring them with me to Palau.

And there I got to see just my  island fully in its beauty and in its culture.

What you think Palau?

Kalany Omengkar: I’m home, baby!

I always dreamt about going back home, and  what I imagined was I go and I see my family, and I'd have this great experience.

But here I  am.

I come to Palau, and it felt like the whole country was receiving me.

I met up with the same  delegation, the same people from Hawaii, and they, they toured me around the island.

And it was just  this wave of information, this wave of knowledge, and and love, really.

People saying it's okay  that you don't speak Palauan, and at least you're here and you're trying to learn, and  you're, you're learning about your culture, and you're filming it, and you're creating  art about it, so you could share it to other people who were like me, you know, who grew up  outside of the islands, outside of Micronesia, who don't have strong connections, where  it's too expensive for them to fly back home, or their whole family is uprooted or because  of climate change, their island doesn't, their village doesn't exist.

So there's nothing really  to go back to.

So being there you feel this, I felt this sense of purpose that I needed  to capture and and hold on to these stories and these, these legends and these traditions and  these Art and motifs and and tattoos and symbols.

So after my trip in Palau I start on a couple of  projects, and these projects just fall in line of how I was feeling at the time of just trying  to empower myself and wanting to just have this, have my community feel this type of way, you  know.

Through the UH systems and Mapuna Lab, we were lucky enough to collaborate with them to  create this community piece.

It’s really called a traveling mural.

Me and another Micronesian  local artist, Lisette Yamase, we went into the community.

We went to various high schools  where Micronesian kids are.

We went to UH Mānoa and talked with the students there, and also the  elders in different Micronesian communities.

And just and just shared stories of, of where they're  from with the elders, what it was like growing up back home and and the legends and the stories  that they grew up with, and then also connecting it with the kids that have only known Hawaiʻi as  their home and only heard stories of of Chuuk, of Pompeii, of Palau, and encouraging  them that you know you have this legacy, and you know you have this deep, rich culture that  you should always remember.

This all encompasses the beauty and the knowledge and the resilience of  the Micronesian people.

And that's what I'm trying to do with with the art.

You know, Micronesians  have been in the Hawaiʻi Community for for a long time now.

And I walk around and I see these  beautiful art and beautiful murals, but I've never seen image that looks like me.

The ultimate  goal is to help inspire people and and the youth feel a sense of pride and feel bigger because  they are part of this bigger, bigger culture.

They are part of this, this, this warrior culture,  this culture that protects, that loves, that have navigated 1000s of miles and across, you know, the  oceans, and we still continue to navigate today.

Kalaʻi Miller: Tassho Pearce is a trailblazer in  Hawaiʻi’s hip-hop scene.

One of the first local rappers to gain national attention and make a  splash on the global stage.

Beyond the beats and rhymes is a story about hustle, persistence,  dreaming big, and above all staying true to who you are and where you’re from.

Tassho Pearce: (Rapping) How shall I start?

Like Moses Iʻll part the seas Put next coast on the charts for ya all to see Hop on board embark on this odyssey Tassho Pearce: I vividly remember holding the King of Rock cassette tape and also having the Paid in  Full cassette.

And I was probably in second grade, and I had a good friend, Hawala, who introduced  me.And his dad was super cool, Ed Greavy.

The coolest thing he ever did, was actually,  changed my whole life, is they took me to a concert at Aloha Stadium, and it was Run DMC and  ZZ Top, and it was amazing.

He had everybody you know for “My Adidas” he had everyone you know put  their Adidas sneaker up in the air.

I didn't have any Adidas at the time I probably had, like, those  kangaroos with the pockets in them.

So I held up my shoe like, that moment, like, I think that's  what sparked it in the back of my mind.

Like, I remember that moment being like crystallized  in my mind-- just my first glimpse into, like, the vibrant culture of hip hop.

And it stuck with  me.

I was born in Japan to Chris and Fumiye.

My dad had gone to university in Japan.

He was a  military brat.

That's where my father met my mom, Fumiye.

They moved down to Okinawa.

But not  just Okinawa.

It was like the super secluded, tiny island of Iriomote and was basically a  rice farmer, the only non-Japanese person in the village.

There was a huge tsunami on the night  or the day before my birth, and they had to take me on a boat to Ishigaki Island, where they didn't  have a hospital, so I was probably just, you know, born on some tatami mats in some random tiny house  on these islands of Ishigaki in Okinawa.When they separated, I moved to Hawaiʻi.

(Rapping) I just spit until the beat fade An immigrant from Japan, Issei I pass the torch to my first born relay Tassho Pearce: I don't know what sparked it, but we would start spittin’, freestylin’ with some  of the homies from high school.

Then, I think we did a talent show at high school.

It was the Brown  Bags to Stardom.

We didin’t win, but we, the whole place lost their mind.

It was me and Fungi, Fungi  Malala performing.

That was the birth of the crew that became the Hoomanakaz.

Put together a tape  and we pushed it.

We went all the way out to the West Coast—me, Todd G., Mr.

Rios, Fungi, Haʻo, and  Ideal.

We drove all the way from LA all the way up to the Bay Area and promoting the tape to everyone  we could.

Try to drop it in as many record stores and, and we were able to make some noise off that.

I remember we spent the whole summer up there.

And I remember met El-P from Co.

Flow, Run The Jewels,  El-P.

Ended up, like, going to KUSF Beat Sauce.

And it was literally me and El-P going back and  forth, freestyling for like, I don’t know, 20, 25 minutes on the air.

We went from having tapes  to making CDs to making, eventually, vinyls.

We took that to the Wake Up Show, and I don’t know, I  think that was actually our first co-sign.

I think the first thing they played was Tropical Deluxe.

And the Wake Up Show was like our Bible.

Like we religiously listen.

So, when that came on, that  was probably the second biggest pivotal moment in my hip-hop, like evolution.

To believe, okay,  we can do this.

Because knowing that everyone, you know, in the hip-hop community, you know  throughout the west coast and wherever the Wake Up Show was broadcast and was hearing it.

So eventually, I made my way to the Wake Up Show and I did my thing.

My second visit to the Wake  Up Show, when we went on, it was me, Declaime, this kid Spontaneous—these are all underground LA,  and Pharaohe Monch, okay.

And we’re just going in a cipher.

Everybody’s taking turns and I’m like,  oh my god, that’s Pharoahe Monch—you know what I mean—Pharoahe effing Monch, right?

Like, bugging  out, but trying to stay calm.

And trying to, you know, do my verses as best as possible.

This  is super funny, this is like, nobody knows this, but like, there’s recording of the, the freestyle,  but while everyone was rapping, Pharoahe Monch was sitting at the table and had like, a Source  Magazine.

He’s like, reading, he’s like, flipping through the pages while we're rapping, like,  just like, Oh, these, you know, these crumbs.

Like, it was like, it was super, like, okay, this  is, this is like, GOAT level, and he’s, you know, blessing us with his presence.

But at the same  time, it made me want to go harder.

And actually, that freestyle ended up being pressed on vinyl on  the Wake Up Show Best of Freestyles Volume Four.

It said, like, Tassho on there.

Which is weird,  because I really, I wasn’t even Tassho then, I was Akira 8.

But maybe that was foreshadowing, because  I ended up, you know, using my name later.

It was the proving ground.

It was a hip-hop staple.

If you had an album, you needed to go there, whether you're Biggie, whether you're Tupac,  whether you're Jay Z, whether you're Eminem, you had to go there, and you had to rap.

Hoomanakaz had already come and gone.

We got to do some real big shows.

We opened up for  Wu-Tang Clan.

We opened up for The Roots.

I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and try to have a solo  career.

So, my mission statement, my plan, was to become the greatest hip-hop artist that Hawaiʻi  had ever known.

That just sounds, kind of like, lofty aspirations, and you know, I don’t know if I  achieved that, you know, that’s, that’s not for me to say.

Somehow I connected with Rhettmatic, he  produced on my first album, Rhyme & Punishment.

Now I had become Emirc, E-M-I-R-C.

That was huge.

We were working with an established artist, right, that had so much respect.

We released “Honolulu.”  And “Honolulu” took off.

Probably my biggest song, to this day.

Took it to the DJs.

You would hear  it on the radio like, four or five times at night on multiple radio stations.

A big win for us in  Hawaiʻi, for the hip-hop scene.

Definitely super proud of that record.

Shout out, Syze 1.

Shout  out, Beamer Brothers, you know, kind of sampled that “Honolulu City Lights.” I made a t-shirt  to promote the record label, Flip the Bird.

And that was like how I was like able to meet some of  these artists.

I kind of became like a ambassador or like the tour guide.

Eventually some of  the biggest artists were, were spotted like, wearing the brand.

Got to kick it with one of my  heroes, Redman—top ten emcees of all time.

But he took a picture in our Gucci bird.

Next step, take  it to the stores.

You know, put it in Kicks HI, I put it in Leilow.

Shout to Ian.

Shouts to Todd  and the guys and Ryan at In4mation.

Now I have something I can stand on.

I can go outside  of Hawaiʻi.

Take the brand in my backpack.

I got to True in San Francisco, boom, they’re  carrying the brand.

I go to Bodega in Boston, boom, they're carrying the brand.

Literally, just  in my backpack.

Go to UBIQ, you know, and Atlanta, you know.

I would just literally go to the stores  with my backpack.

One of the biggest moments, a meeting with Russell Simmons.

We were able to  do a collaboration with Run Athletics, which was, you know, of course, RUN’s footwear line.

So, from  being a little like, eight-year-old kid holding up my sneaker at Aloha Stadium, you know, wishing I  had an Adidas to, like, full circle coming around, and like, designing four sneakers for, for run was  like, you know, one of the greatest moments of my life.

When Kanye came, the Touch the Sky Tour I  was the only opening act.

We had all Flip the Bird shirts on and Kanye was kind of watching,  he’s like, yo!

Those are sick shirts.

So, I had wanted to get him some gear.

Like a  month later a photo circulates, and it’s Kanye on stage at Wango Tango, and he’s rocking  our 90s All-Star shirt.

And it was crazy.

Now we felt like, okay, we’re 100 percent in the game.

Kanye West: I gotta send a shout out to my dog, Tassho, came all the way from Hawaiʻi, to check  out the show.

Where we recorded this album.

Tassho Pearce: Iʻm not gonna act like me and Kanye  are besties and I’m like texting him but like, this room, brings back, like so many memories.

This is where so much history has been made.

Island Sound Studios, formerly Avec Studios.

So  many legends passed through these doors.

Justine Bieber, Kanye West, Q-Tip, the RZA, Pete Rock,  you talkin’ ‘bout Jay-Z, Beyonce.

When Dr.

Dre was here with Eminem, kind of same thing, I brought  some shirts out.

One of my boys who I think was engineering, shout to Jacob Gabriel, he was  engineering and he kind of like opened the door for me to come in.

I brought some shirts here.

Eminem walks out, Eminem was like, one of the major influences on my whole music career, I would  say like, one of the biggest.

When I met him, first thing he says to me is like, you do that  Flip the Bird brand.

I was like, yeah.

Actually, Hayley was just wearing one of the shirts.

And I  was like, oh my god, I couldn’t believe it.

It was a very brief moment, he said, yo, shirts are dope.

A few months later, Relapse drops and there’s a photo of him and Dre in this very spot, and he’s  wearing a Flip the Bird shirt.

And that’s inside the Relapse CD sleeve.

We find out Kanye’s coming  through so, I come back out here, a bag full of shirts.

Gaylord remembers me from when Dre were  here.

Ah yes, Tassho let him in.

And I get to meet the team.

Lace everybody with shirts, everybody,  you know, boom.

What’s your size?

I got you.

But then, you know, they had a big crew so I ran out.

You know what?

I don’t have your size but I can come back tomorrow.

I’m back the next day.

And  then, I just like, started, just like, kicking it, you know, with, with the guys and, and giving them  any, whatever I could, almost like a concierge to the islands.

After 808s and Heartbreaks he came  back out for Dark Twisted Fantasy.

And that was insane, because they were here for like 6 months.

I don’t want to say too much, cuz the studios rules, which were on the wall right behind me.

One  of the rules was like, don’t tell anyone anything about anything we’re doing.

So, I’ll, I’ll keep  it short but I would just say that probably the greatest moments of my life were in this studio,  just being around those guys, like they honestly, like, welcomed me like a brother, and to this  day.

Like, literally spent six months every day from like two, three in the afternoon to like  five or six in the morning, In the room for with these guys in the studio.

And he had turned every  single room in this whole building into a studio.

It was like the craziest hip-hop production camp  you could ever imagine, with the best producers, MCs, talking about the RZA, you know, Pete Rock,  Q-Tip.

You know, those the legends from this era.

And the most inspiring thing was just Ye himself,  like seeing his work ethic, like how he would just not leave the studio, like he would literally stay  in here till six in the morning every night.

So, grateful for that opportunity.

And grateful  for Gaylord for letting me in when uh, when I knocked on the door.

So, yeah, this, this  place holds a lot of memories, and it's like, it brings up a lot of emotions, and just even  the smell, everything is so familiar, like, this place is, like, it's kind of like heaven to  me, just sitting here, to be real.

At the end of the day, you’re gonna be like, thinking about  the experiences, the people in your life that are important, and the times you guys shared  together and like, those are the things like, I truly value.

The lessons from hip-hop.

We come  from that generation where like, you would listen to an album and you would absorb it.

Nobody knows  what you’re doing.

They’re not gonna believe in you and support your dreams.

You have to have that  inside yourself.

That kind of like, brazen, like confidence.

The hip-hop guys, in our time, were  not like, embraced like that.

So, it was like, you just had to love it.

That’s why we did it.

And  that’s still why I do it.

The rush that I get when I’m writing.

I’m still working on music.

I don’t  think I’ll ever stop.

You know, it’s a part of who I am, is creating.

It’s like an itch that I always  need to scratch.

Always trying to hone it and always trying to make something classic.

Kalaʻi Miller: Mahalo for joining us, Because of you we are able to share stories  of self-understanding, determination, and risk taking.

If you would like to support  our mission to advance learning and discovery, go to PBS Hawaiʻi dot org and click on  the donate now button.

For Home is Here, I’m Kalaʻi Miller, a hui hou.

Tassho Pearce (rapping): I wake up in lair, high like the Himalayas Slay ya like King Kamehameha Spent a minute just penning this song Dedicated to my natives who been wit’ it so long ‘Bout to dive in it, no longer dip our feet in it Drink the Smirnoff beer with the seed in it My archipelago flow is unforgettable Tropical style, this is Hoomanaka-lypse Now Played the back, they all  thought we living in shacks Ripping the tracks so much  doctor’s stitching it back Throw your H’s up in the air, keep ‘em sky high Repping the H-A-W-A-I-I