The show ran on Thursday nights from 9 p.m. to midnight and was notorious for its 10:15 Throwdown, where guests and callers could freestyle live on the air. It was part cypher, part variety show, part who knows what the fuck’s gonna happen. “It was raw, live and unedited,” proclaims The Catalyst. “And the first radio show that sectioned off a time for people to rhyme.”

The show should have ended when Kavet earned his communications degree in 1999, but due to his ninja skills (and playing dumb), he kept it rolling for a year and a half after graduation. Trickery! Shortly thereafter, Kavet got the boot and was approached by every urban radio station to go viral and continue on. But, he realized that a mainstream DJ would no longer have the freedom of his own, unconventional playlist and the raw, on-the-fly excitement of the 10:15 Throwdown. So he declined.

Since then, he’s re-invented the Lightsleepers ideals and concept into a clothing line/record label of the same name while promoting true hip-hop events. From emcee, b-boy and DJ battles, to graffiti exhibitions and producer beat battles, Kavet puts a tremendous amount of work into bringing together the local scene, often barely breaking even. He has always done it for the love of hip-hop. He’s the perfect combination of aloha spirit and hip-hop, incorporating Hawai‘i’s iconic sentiment into an urban art form seamlessly. “The underground hip-hop community in Hawai‘i is still fresh and innovative,” declares The Catalyst. “Hawai‘i has always had it’s own unique twist on hip-hop.”

Kavet recently became the parent of a beautiful keiki (child) named Coltrane, but still finds time to push his skateboard around and bang out beats on his Eps-16 and Akai S-20 combo. He is set to release his fourth full-length solo album titled 33 1/3 in September featuring production by Sentric and Deeskee with guest emcees Omega Cix, Ghesol and Joe Dub. While his hustle evolves into a more complex, commercial being, Kavet The Catalyst keeps it real as the incendiary substance that accelerates the chemical reaction between hip-hop and Honolulu’s urban scene.


カヴェト・ザ・キャタリスト
カヴェトはホノルルを拠点に活動しているDJ。ハワイ大学のラジオステーション、KTUHでLightsleepersという有名なヒップホップラジオ番組のDJをしていた。彼のチャンネルでは、Living Legends、 Project Blowed、 QBert、 Peanut ButterWolfやAnticonなどのアーティストのライブが紹介された。また、彼はLightsleepersの名前をつかったファッションブランドやレコード会社を立ち上げている。そして彼自身も、彼の最新アルバムを今年１０月に出す予定だ。