Keahiwai is a Hawaiian music duo composed of musicians Mailani Makainai and Lei Melket. They are originally from Mililani, Hawaii.
History
Mailani and Lei met at Maryknoll School, Honolulu, Hawaii in 1991 and became friends. Each was unaware that the other had musical interests until 1997; Lei played the ukulele and Mailani was a singer. That year, the duo entered a school talent show and won. They began performing at family events and parties. In 1999 they landed their first professional gig at a local coffee shop.
Keahiwai released their debut album, “Local Girls” with producers Aaron Kimura and Jon Yamasato in May 2001. The album was nominated for five Na Hoku Hanohano Awards by the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts. The album won two awards: Most Promising Artist of the Year, and Favorite Entertainer of the Year.
Keahiwai released their second album, “Satisfied”, in 2002. Following the release of “Satisfied”, they toured the pacific islands of Guam and Saipan.
Keahiwai’s third album, “Dangerous”, was released in October, 2005. “Dangerous” was the duo’s most successful album to date. It spent two weeks on the Billboard Magazine World Music Chart in November, 2005 peaking at #10.
In November 2006, Keahiwai released two albums; “Merry Christmas”, a holiday music album, and “Changing”
