Abraham Kunin

✨ Honouring the 90th Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and 5 Years of Inner World ✨ Five years ago today, Inner World was released. The Dalai Lama’s debut album, a musical offering reciting mantras and sharing short teachings, woven through music. The aspiration was that this work might bring moments of peace, stillness, and hope into our everyday lives. For your birthday, Your Holiness, we hope this offering continues to benefit countless beings. His Holiness said, “Music has the potential to help people in a way that I can’t. It can return us to our true nature of good-heartedness.” We will always be grateful for every moment this work has been able to hold someone, through grief, to support a loved one as they transition from this life, or to bring light to times of darkness. Thank you to everyone who helped bring this work into being. And to everyone who has received it and continues to receive it. Your Holiness, your unwavering commitment to compassion, nonviolence, and the wellbeing of all beings has inspired generations. You have given your life to peace, and we are honoured to have walked a small part of that path through this work. May it serve as you hoped it would, and may you live a long and peaceful life. “The very purpose of my life is to serve as much as I can.” The Dalai Lama With deep love and reverence to His Holiness on this milestone 90th birthday 🎂

Endings and beginnings, decapitated fingers, 3 middle aged men on a Monday. Anitya is gonna be one of those ones to look back on. Congrats to @tomscottygb (and @thebengineer ). This record does what music should do. I got to play a bunch of guitars, a bit of production, a bit of pull ups and tai chi. Shot to everyone involved - started tagging then realised the enormity of the cast and bailed. Love to Lorraine 🕊️❤️ Go listen to it!

Kei te poho kererū ahau mō tātau! @theiaofficialxo Tēnā koe @rollingstoneaus 🙏 🔥🔥🔥 Well done to: @nicnakmgmt @joliehollandmusic @peauviolinist @kmbsound @emilywsaudio @jolmulholland @kogstudio

Do the lyrics still hit when the music isn’t there? That’s my test as a MC. The words have to be engraved with a feeling, with a level of energy that resonates without the support of anything else. In that way, when the music hits, the combination of sounds becomes undeniable. It hits on a frequency level. That’s part of the science of music to me. The alchemy of it all. When I heard @northcityrizzy ’s verse on this song we created together, it hit deep. I felt like I found not only another dope MC but I found a new bro who resonates on that same frequency. Even though we come from different parts of the world, we connected on that level. And music was what brought it all together. This song we released, Easy, is something deep. Take your time with it. Sit with it. Feel it. See what it sparks inside you. If you haven’t checked it out yet, hit the link in my bio. We dropped this at the end of April and the messages I’ve received from some of you so far remind me that music truly is an art. An art that brings us all together in the most beautiful way. It’s a precious thing. Peace & Light.

I been lucky to work with @ink_abee since his first single. Mixed and/or mastered a bunch of tunes for this project, played some guitars here and there, and produced this one playing in the background. Congrats and happy bday to little bro, and love to @flewnt_mc @tani_ahh @i.amsolo and the whole @fn_focus_official fam. Go check out Chapter 14!

No matter who you are, where you’re from or what you’re going through, music can be the bridge. It can be the thing that makes us feel seen and heard. It can comfort us during tough times. This song “Easy” is that. It’s a friend for those who need it. We wrote it, inspired by the idea that sometimes the hardest things to do in life are theoretically meant to be the easiest. Like telling someone you love them. It’s just come out today. We’re excited to be able to share it with you. Our hope is that this song may be there for you, whenever you need it. “Easy” by @northcityrizzy , @abrahamkunin , @paulmclaney , @audsdot and @lfreshthelion out now

Music brings people together. it unites. heals. connects. inspires. it picks us up when we’re down. it can motivate us to train harder, work harder. it teaches us gratitude and acceptance. it can make us dance or provoke a thought or idea. it can do all of at different times or all at the same time. A song can mean one thing when we hear it the first time. And it can mean something completely different when we go back and listen to it 10-15 years later. For me, music has definitely been a friend during tough times. it’s helped me get through when I needed guidance and support. Music gave me the opportunity to connect with my NZ fam @abrahamkunin , @northcityrizzy , @audsdot and @paulmclaney to reimagine one of Paul’s songs. This Thursday 30 April, the song we created is being released. It’s called ‘Easy’. It speaks to the idea of sometimes that hardest things in life should theoretically be the easiest, like telling somebody you love them for example. Last time I was in NZ, we got together and chopped it up to talk about life, music, our inspirations and all of the things that inspired our contributions to the song. Here’s a behind-the-scenes of that conversation. Thanks to @bigpop_studios for letting us use their space and to the bro Arahi for documenting this convo.

This has been such a cool kaupapa to work on. If you have tamariki in the kōhunga demographic (and children of all ages), check out the ‘Waiata Māori’ YouTube page. Animated waiata hou are up every week or so. E mihi ana ahau ki te whai wāhi ki tēnei kaupapa, kia whai wāhi ai ngā pīpī paopao ki ngā waiata Māori. Mauri ora!

‘Till Then’ resonated heavy for all of us who worked on it. One of my favorites ever. Shot to @tomscottygb on the well-deserved nods for a beautiful album, and @thebengineer for producing and engineering not only ANITYA, but the lions share of this year’s projects! Shoutout everyone who made meaningful music this past year, with or without the accolades.

Big mihi to @elixir_strings for keeping me always highly strung and never strung out for another season. I’ve been using their stuff exclusively on my guitars (and now my basses) for about 10 years and honestly appreciate the support so much.

Big ups to haumies @thesourband on the first release from their upcoming ‘Daughters’ EP, ‘Your God and Mine’! Damn, pretty flash coming straight out the gate at #1 on the @95bfm Top Ten 🎉 Getting to jump on this project (co-producing, mixing, recording in a dream team with @tombroome and @_____cello__xo ) was fucking life affirming in so many ways. The best hangs, warm vibes, great songs, great players, and a raw, authentic approach to making records. The whole EP is sick, stay tuned! ❤️‍🔥

The boys are back in (The) town (Hall)! A historic one with the fam. Last Tāmaki shows were a minute ago and sold out pretty quick, so I’d grab tix soon if you don’t wanna miss out. As the prophet Rogers Nelson once said, ‘It’s gonna be a beautiful night.’