Kamalei Kawa’s Blind Audition Makes Chance The Rapper’s Jaw Drop On “The Voice”

Kamalei Kawa earned one of the fastest chair turns in the history of The Voice during his blind audition.

The Native Hawaiian singer took the stage with his guitar on March 4th to perform Redemption Song by Bob Marley and The Wailers. After only four words, Chance the Rapper’s slammed his red button and turned his chair.

Kamalei continued the song with soul and passion that had Chance waving his arms and praising each note. By the end, Reba joined with a chair turn.

Dan + Shay and John Legend didn’t vie for Kamalei Kawa, but they offered strong encouragement and admitted that he had a well-deserved place on The Voice.

Chance took his turn next and admitted that the performance “brought something out of” him.

“It’s a very radical song, and it means a lot to all oppressed peoples around the world,” he continued. “I think having you on here, representing Pacific Islanders, indigenous people, Hawaiians, people around the world, I think it’s really important for the show to have.”

Visibly moved by Chance’s words, Kamalei Kawa shared that he auditioned for The Voice with the “goal” of “representing all native people.”

“My favorite line from the song is ‘Emancipate yourself from mental slavery,'” he said through tears.

“That song touched my heart,” Reba admitted. “I knew that I had heard it before, but not like you sang it. It’s something about you being so proud of your heritage and carrying on the ways of your people that just came through in that song. It was very spiritual to me, and that’s why I turned around.

Kamalei Kawa ultimately chose to join Team Chance, despite the kind words from Reba. Chance was beside himself with excitement.

“Kamalei is a force. I really think he’s a star,” Chance said after celebrating the win. “He’s got a great story to tell.”

Watch Kamalei Kawa tell that story every Monday and Tues on NBC at 8 PM ET.

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