Musician 8RO8 releases Polynesian-inspired song ‘Tribal’
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The Maui News
KAHULUI--Hawaii artist 8RO8 released his latest single 'Tribal', featuring fellow Oahu rapper Juws on May 31. A music video was released June 1.
'Tribal' is a two minute, Polynesian-inspired track to end Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, celebrated annually in May.
Spotify recently selected 8RO8 as one of the faces of its global Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (APIHM) campaign. 8RO8 represented Hawaii's emerging music industry to a worldwide audience, sharing the talent of both Hawaii and API sounds. As part of the campaign, 8RO8 was featured on billboards in Los Angeles, California, and Penn Plaza in New York City.
"TRIBAL is about a love quarrel between a guy and girl from Hawaii," said Myron Armstrong, the voice behind 8RO8. "Tradition has it that he needs to place her name in his tribal tattoo. By doing so, they're locked in. This song plays into the toxic mess of that whole situation, revealing insecurities of both parties: the guy hoping she doesn't leave after getting her tatted and the girl daring him to break her heart."
'Tribal' was originally teased at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Aloha Bash last month, where 8RO8 opened for global pop sensation, Surfaces. 8RO8 was also featured by national music accelerator On the Radar May 29, where he performed the song to an audience of millions.
8RO8's previous single HELE, featuring world-famous rapper, P-Lo, was released last month. The single was featured on national Spotify playlist, Jasmine; amassed 300K+ streams; is ranked #105 in Rhythmic-Rolling on Mediabase, a service monitoring national radio plays; and is ranked #30 on Oahu by Shazam.
'Tribal' is the second single off an upcoming album, which can be expected later this year.
The 24-year-old 8RO8 (pronounced "eight-row-eight") is a local music artist based on Oahu and on a mission to make local music widely listened to on the mainland and abroad; his stage name pays homage to Hawaii's 808 zip-code.
His discography includes all genres, ranging from Hawaiian reggae to rap, hip-hop, pop, R&B, indie and country – mirroring Hawaii's diverse melting pot of cultures. His goal is to expose mainland listeners to local themes, showing the islands in a way not depicted in travel brochures and tourist-focused marketing. His deep discography includes reimagined local favorite "Love Me" (Three Plus) and years of spreading aloha to the world through music.