“WHAT YEAR YOU GRAD?”
Daryl Bonilla (Pass Out Records)
Daryl Bonilla has been known for years for his work as a local stage actor and as the guy who says “That’s my bank!” With “What Year You Grad?” he steps forward as the latest local-style stand-up comedian with a CD documenting his work on stage.
Bonilla’s material ranges from a one-liner about why a comedy club should never be named the G-Spot (“None of the guys would be able for find the place”) to sincere but humorous observations about being a single parent. He also discusses the trials and tribulations of getting “old.” (Bonilla is 41).
And yes, there are riffs on “That’s my bank,” a clever reference to the musical “Grease” and a shout-out to his day job employer, Hawaii Self Storage.
A story about an emergency medical procedure takes him into “adult” material, but give him credit for doing a full-length set of contemporary local comedy without using “four-letter” words.
Visit passoutrecords.com.
“ARTCHITEXTURE”
Cedric Clinton (Primaphonix Studio)
Hawaii’s hip-hop scene has never lacked imaginative artists, starting with the pioneering work of Club Rox Rock and SKI-103, the cross-cultural rap of Sudden Rush and on through the present. Cedric Clinton’s debut CD is another project Hawaii can be proud to claim.
Clinton defines the title as “artistic energy constructed through words with feeling.” Starting with that as a foundation, the predominant theme is constructive self-affirmation.
“If I want things in my life to change/I gotta change things in my life,” he says in a track titled “Strictly Largecore.” He notes elsewhere that brighter futures are “based on better decisions,” and “I will only be a fool if I allow it to be.”
Clinton reveals his island roots in “Grow With the Flow” with terms like “hanabata days” and “false cracks.” He displays the depth of his musical knowledge by using the melody of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “We’ve Only Just Begun” as the musical hook for a song in which he shares his plans for the future.
Visit CedricClinton.com.
