This one’s for the night owls… Did you hear HPR has changed up its nighttime music programming?
“After Hours” airs from 10 p.m. to midnight, weekdays on HPR-1 and features five hosts curating genres including funk, jazz, Pasifika, and electronic soul music.
Friday’s music is themed as “Mundo Reggae” – and it’s a show that local DJ Lulú Solares is bringing to the station after hosting it for nearly two decades.
Solares spoke with The Conversation about the ins and outs of reggae music, starting with when she first started listening to the genre at the age of 11.
Interview highlights
On her introduction to reggae music
LULÚ SOLARES: I used to listen to my sister’s music, to my dad’s music, my friend’s music. And one day, I give my playlist to one friend, and he’s like, “Oh, you like reggae.” I didn’t know it was a genre, like the place I grew up with is pretty similar vibe [to] Hawaiʻi, and there is a lot of reggae influence because of the tourism beach area, but there’s not a big movement. You will have to travel to the city in Tijuana to see a festival or see somebody live, which I had to wait like a while to do that, but that’s when I discovered around 11, 12 years old. And my introduction for real was probably a cover by Shaggy, cover by Sean Paul, my dad telling me that’s all music, and me arguing with him. “No, this is new, look, with a brand new video.” But yeah, that’s what I remember getting deep into, oh, what’s reggae music?
On hosting “Mundo Reggae”
SOLARES: I was just starting university, science of communications, and somebody knocked on the door and said, “Who wants a radio show?” Because the radio station of the school was starting, and they gave us radio shows just to play music during the breaks between hours at school. That turned into a segment on AM and TV at the same time on school program. Then I went into FM, and it just took off my life, basically, and started building me as not only radio host, but DJ promoter, and got me deep into the culture of reggae music, just from the love of wanting to share the music that I love, and also by the needs that I saw around my area. There was just one radio show coming from San Diego, only playing the roots music, the old music, and I knew there was fresh reggae music, so I wanted to focus a show for people to get educated on what’s coming on fresh, without missing out on the history of reggae music. I figured that there’s a never-ending catalog of reggae music that comes to styles, and the whole foundation to today is just everywhere in the world.
On the genre, growing female reggae DJs
SOLARES: I’ve been learning a lot, like every day, there’s new music every day, and there’s a non-stop history on reggae music that keeps writing on styles. And there is new stuff coming up, transforming reggae styles into new and more styles. And what I saw or what I knew when I began. I also noticed it, like the lack of the growing now is a growing scene for female reggae in the reggae scene, not only as a DJ or singer, but producers in the whole spectrum that involves the culture of reggae music. … Mundo reggae is what it turned me into a DJ, just by the wish of trying to share different versions of the same instrumental. And from the first time I visited Hawaiʻi, somehow I got this will and idea of, oh, I would like to have a workshop for females, because I was the only woman coming to spin reggae in this island, and I saw the movement of the girls in the scene that like reggae music feeling represented. So that made me like, oh, I want to teach. And eventually I had the opportunity to create the first group, and it turned into probably around 80 students so far that I have taught the whole basics, and some that I teach weekly. My intention is to create a bigger movement of female reggae DJs, which there is little bit around the world, which is a big movement right now, and it’s a nice community, but I feel locally, I can help a little bit to grow that. And so I’m willing to do it.
On “After Hours”
SOLARES: I’m beyond blessed to be the one to be sharing this space. I’m excited for this new stage on “After Hours.” It’s going to be every Friday, 10 p.m. to midnight, these two hours of reggae school if you want to see it like that. You may not listen at all what’s commercial or is in other radio show. I focus on keeping you up to what came out this week, to what came out this month. What about the producer? What about the album? What about the format? If it’s digital, if it came out on cassette, if it came out on vinyl, you’re going to hear the whole thing of everything on reggae music, and that’s my mission. So tune in. Join me. If you don’t have something to do on Friday night, if you’re preparing for your Friday night, just join “Mundo Reggae” on “After Hours” by HPR-1 because it’s exciting to hear and be part of this new chapter of the station is every day, between Monday and Friday, there’s a new host, and everyone has a different approach for their own genre.
Solares has a special show planned for Friday, all about love and reggae — ahead of Valentine’s Day. Tune in to HPR-1 on Friday at 10 p.m.
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 12, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hawaiipublicradio.org ’
