Posted on: Friday, September 20, 2002

Bruddah Iz achieves state's first gold status

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Bruddah Iz has become the first-ever Island artist to earn gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for his "Facing Future" CD.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's disc is the first full-length album from Hawai'i to be certified gold and the first-ever gold status earned by a record company from the Islands. Gold, in industry jargon, represents sales of 500,000; the other milestone in sales is platinum, or 1,000,000.

"We were audited — with people flying in and checking our invoices over the last nine years," said Leah Bernstein, president of the Mountain Apple Company, which distributes Iz's recordings. "I'm hoping to reach platinum status by the end of this year."

Tall order, perhaps, but Iz-mania peaked this summer, when his music and his life had what Bernstein said were "250 million impressions."

Released after his death in 1997, "Facing Future" has enjoyed incredible shelf life and power on the national best-sellers charts, supported not only by TV and print media, but in movies, books and word of mouth. "Facing Future" has remained on the Billboard charts for 177 weeks.

And Iz's reign is not over.

In five or six weeks, Iz will be featured on DVDs culled from his television appearances. Mountain Apple is acquiring footage from KGMB-TV's "Island Music, Island Hearts" for a DVD, to be followed by DVD versions of "Hot Hawaiian Nights," which originated on KFVE.