Janie Gallegos
- Nov 16, 2020
- 4 min read

LIVE, LOVE, and SERVE ~ You Got The City Boys!

“The City Boys' motto is to Live, Love, and Serve. LIVE your life to the fullest, spread LOVE because it’s the only way to be able to SERVE others. The City Boys LIVE, LOVE, and SERVE not only through our music but, through our actions here on this earth.” ~ City Boys

#music #hawaii #newmusic #love

City Boys, began their journey on the McKinley high school football field in Honolulu, Hawaii. Abel Warner was the quarterback while Puka Tatupu, Ulima aka “Brandon” Luamanu, and Salesi Fifita-Atkins performed as offensive linemen. They would dominate the football field then come together for a practice of their own, singing!

After graduating from high school, the team split to focus on college. They tried to regroup but as extremely young men, it just wasn't the right time for the City Boys, to become one. They all held different occupations ranging from federal government jobs to working for the state yet, their love for music remained deep within their beautiful souls.

In 2015, Abel and Puka had a meeting in regards to regrouping. They knew that music was their passion, their destiny, and their purpose. The team was much older, much wiser, and much more mature to handle the music scene… together. City Boys, regrouped adding Malik to the team. They released their first single in 2016 named, This Girl! Puka recalled; “This was a good thing for us, we were more mature, more responsible, and ready to pursue music. This Girl was a hit, we had a lot of great feedback and that really inspired us to keep going”.

So now, the City Boys are on the music field together. They have begun to tour and released 5 more singles as well as a Christmas album. But how did young men with no sponsors tour the mainland? “We saved our tour money by working weekly gigs. Instead of splitting the money from our gigs at the end of the show, we put all of our earnings into one savings account until we had enough to tour. This was definitely a learning experience but we did it.” Puka continued; “Shout out to those who helped us gig all over Oahu and for hiring us to play weekly [5 days a week]. This allowed us to continue to save money to tour, so a HUGE shout out to them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here today. Shout out to Hoku Aki of Ranking Riddins Studio, Pena Bu of BU Print Studio, Sherwin & Kaipo of Barstudio, and everyone else that has helped & influenced us on this beautiful music journey”.

Although COVID has placed restraints on, well everything, the City Boys refuse to sit back and let the world crumble. Every Sunday, you can catch City Boys, on their Live at 5, FaceBook edition. “Live at 5, gives small businesses light, highlights eateries, and helps local artists. The idea for Live at 5, is to unite island singers as well as small businesses to help give them support during this tough time.” Puka continued; “It is such a great blessing to be helping those in need of a little extra help”.

The City Boys, are not only keeping busy with Live at 5, they are also sitting on some dope tunes that will be released by the beginning of 2021. When I’m With You, will be out soon and believe you me… you don’t wanna miss it! So what's next for this amazing group of talented individuals?

COVID has allowed an abundance of studio time. Don’t be surprised if City Boys, release another one of their magical masterpieces sooner than expected. According to Puka; “We have some awesome collabs coming up with Kelandy Diaz and Frank the G; We are really excited about that”. Like I said, don’t be surprised. Make sure you like and follow their page to keep up with, the City Boys and Live at 5.

City Boys, have a few words of advice for those just getting started in the music industry.

“DON’T get discouraged and DON’T quit! You may run into situations that leave you feeling overwhelmed, scared, or standoffish; Embrace it and learn from it. When I say embrace it I mean, embrace everything that comes at you, even people. Last would be to, LIVE your life to the fullest, LOVE those around you, and be ready to SERVE others. If you have those three things, you will have, the City Boys.”