Who is Eddie Kanani?
He’s an artistic singer, musician, songwriter and producer. He’s a highly rhythmic performer and arranger who incorporates a uniquely wide range of influences. And underneath all of his musical passion beats the heart of an artist whose desire is to uplift and encourage his listeners.
The Recipe
Eddie’s music truly is unique. Like a chef in a Creole kitchen, Eddie usually starts out making his musical jambalaya with solid, deep bass and hard-hitting drums and percussion. Next come layered guitar lines, often heavily seasoned with funky sauce.
Then he throws in the many flavors of various keyboard instruments. He turns up the heat with futuristic digital synthesizer sounds and layers upon layers of his vocals. Once in a while, stirred in at just the right time, are orchestral textures or jazz harmonies.
No one is around as he cooks up his creations because Eddie plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals himself. He is a musical purist and only cooks from scratch.
Stir it all together and Eddie delivers a musical melange that first hooks you with the beat and then encourages your heart with the message. His lyrics are simple and yet very profound. “Most of all, I want everyone to know, no matter who they are, that they’re loved by God, and that no matter what they’re going through, they can make it.”
Drums in the Crib
To say that Eddie has lived a musical life is an understatement. Born in New York to two musicians, Eddie grew up surrounded by the sounds of his parents practicing and all kinds of records spinning on the family’s stereo. At one week old, Eddie attended his first music audition when his mother couldn’t find a babysitter. He started attending concerts regularly at age 3.
It’s no surprise that at age 5, Eddie started playing piano and was writing out his own songs by age 9. Before he was old enough to attend kindergarten, he could often be found in the basement, banging on any of his father’s drums that he could find. This early exposure to percussion laid the foundation for rhythm being the key element in all of Eddie’s music.
One Man Jam
Then something special happened when he was 14. Using two boom-boxes to ping-pong musical instruments on top of one another, Eddie recorded his first song entirely by ear. Hearing a song composed and performed completely on his own opened the floodgates of his creativity, and the writing and recording sessions have continued ever since.
Spiritual Foundation
It wasn’t until Eddie gave his heart to Christ that he started on his journey of exploring his spirituality through music. During that time of growth in his faith, Eddie began traveling with music groups to schools, prisons, orphanages and churches across the U.S. and as far as Jamaica and Honduras. Eddie also began to play, sing and lead worship for several youth groups around town.
During this time, Eddie discovered Gospel music. “Fred Hammond was one of the first Gospel musicians that really inspired me musically,” along with other artists that expressed an intersection of faith and rhythm in their music. The Bass Interlude on Eddie’s debut album is dedicated to Hammond.
A Musical Double-Life
Eddie studied music composition with several Grammy-winning teachers in college. While he was there, he had opportunities to write all kinds of music for many types of musicians. “Hearing your music performed by a 100-piece orchestra is incredible,” remembers Eddie.
But even with high points like this, Eddie’s heart was somewhere else – with his funky, R&B-flavored music. Eddie began living a double-life of sorts, studying and composing by day, and staying up all night writing and recording songs in his dorm room.
Into the Studio
Because he was always recording, Eddie kept sharpening his skills as a producer and before graduating, had already produced tracks for a Christian hip-hop artist on a major label supervised by executive producer Dez Dickerson, VP of A&R and the original guitarist in Prince’s band The Revolution. During those sessions, Eddie was introduced to two other musicians and brothers in Christ who soon formed a production company with him. The trio grew a deep friendship and brotherhood, living every day with a shared vision of young men creating together to share the good news as music producers and living for Jesus without compromise. They produced several independent and major-label Gospel projects, as well as music for TV.
From Producer to Arist
After moving west as the trio started to forge their own musical paths independently, Eddie began to realize that he had a lot to say musically and lyrically. After several more years of writing and recording on his own, Eddie realized it was time to get started putting together his debut CD as a solo artist. The long process of going through the 500+ songs he had written paid off as the field was narrowed down to just 30 songs for consideration for the project.
Clocking in at over 70 minutes long, Eddie’s debut album “Soul Solution” is available on CD and digital music.
Click here to listen to Eddie’s latest releases Celebrate & Dance (Dance In Advance Club Remix), Gotta Praise (Extended Groove Remix) and Listen & Obey (2022 Holy Hip Hop Extended Remix) on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, Deezer and all digital music platforms.