Kien J. Shimabukuro was born in the small town of Hilo, Hawaii, U.S.A.  With roots in mainland Japan and Okinawa, his ancestors migrated to the Big Island of Hawaii in the early 1900’s, making him a fourth-generation Japanese-American.  Following his parent’s divorce at the age of 3, Kien and his mother moved to New Jersey.    Raised on the East Coast for 10 years, Kien attended public school in Elizabeth, NJ  as well as the City’s school for the gifted and talented.  In the 6th grade, he was already a member of the chorus as well as one of the selected members of the ensemble.  Enrolling in various activities from piano and trumpet lessons to soccer, tennis, baseball and even a summer mock trial workshop, he never stuck to one thing.  However, growing up watching musicals on Broadway, attending culture and music festivals in New York and tri-state area, a love for music had remained with him.  While most kids would be out playing, Kien would be memorizing lyrics or practicing songs to Broadway musicals he had seen, watching "Star Search," or recording his own renditions of popular songs on a little Fischer Price cassette recorder.    In 1992, Kien returned to Hawaii for the 8th grade and all four years of high school at Hilo High.  While adjusting to the small-town-pace of Hilo, a new school, and making friends, he trained in gymnastics and entered different competitions, notably becoming the Hawaii state level 5 Champion in 1995.  He also began playing tennis and later became the team's captain in 1996, and was a member of various student organizations.  While continuing in music, he gained performing experience in various vocal competitions, events and fairs and contributed to the release of the Hilo High School Ambassador’s CD in 1997.  In his senior year, Kien achieved numerous leadership awards, student recognitions and was granted almost a dozen scholarships.  Upon graduating from Hilo High School as class president in 1997, he again returned to New Jersey to attend Rutgers University as a political science/broadcast journalism double major.    During his four years at Rutgers, he was a student leader of various councils, a Resident Advisor and member of the Rutgers Glee Club.  It was with this all-male choir that he gained intensive choral experience, including an Eastern European tour in 1999, peformances domestically and most notably a night at Lincoln Center.  While in the metropolitan area, he passed an audition for a chance to perform at Harlem’s “Apollo Theater Amateur Night,” as well as preliminary audition rounds for the boy band "O-Town."  He also attended auditions for musicals such as RENT and the Lion King, while training at Broadway Dance Center.    In the summer of 2000 he interned in New York City at MTV Radio News and Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, and in the fall, at Sony's Columbia Records A&R Division.  From these experiences he was exposed to many aspects of the entertainment field, met with various artists (Wyclef Jean, Justin Timberlake, BBMAK...) and gained confidence in his own musical endeavor.  After speaking with different people in the industry, he decided to pursue a career in music.  Kien strives to become the first Asian-American male artist to be considered mainstream and be respected by other artists for originality with pop, R&B, Hawaiian and Japanese influences.  He aims to be a pioneer and create history in the music industry as the first Asian-American nominee or winner of the Grammy's “Best New Artist” Award.  Wanting to learn more about his native culture, he searched for a way to Japan and hoped to debut there, before crossing over into the American and world markets.    With honors in journalism, numerous student leader awards and inducted into the selective Cap & Skull Honor Society, he graduated from Rutgers University in May 2001.  In August of the same year he relocated to Yokohama City, Japan to work as an Assistant Language Teacher for the Japan Exchange & Teaching Program.  In July of 2004 he finished his third and final year with the Program and has studied the Japanese language, traveled around the country, obtained cultural awareness and built performing experience in Japan.  Training at Tokyo’s NOA Vocal Academy and the AVEX Artist Academy, he had numerous live performances in Tokyo and has built a selection of original songs, but wishes to work with a professional team of songwriters, producers, choreographers and stylists in order to bring his performing to the next level.       After two and a half years working in Tokyo as a professional singer at clubs, restaurants, events and weddings, Kien relocated to Hollywood, California in 2006 to broaden his possibilities of landing a record deal.  He is currently seeking a new manager, writing songs and eagerly awaits the chance to actualize his dream.