Leilani Patao – what
Brooklyn-based (via Los Angeles) songwriter, engineer, broadcaster, and community organizer Leilani Patao returns with “what,” the final single before the release of their forthcoming deluxe EP, Daisy Deluxe, arriving July 24 via Audio Antihero.
Built on crashing guitars, pounding drums, and some of Patao’s most direct songwriting to date, “what” confronts political apathy, fear, and the responsibility of speaking out in a world beginning to fracture. The song captures both a personal upheaval and a larger conversation, reflecting years of wrestling with whether music could meaningfully engage with our larger social climate.
“I wrote this song a few years ago when I felt my most frozen,” Patao explains. “I felt really powerless and I felt terrified of what could happen if I started putting these stances into my songs.”
Despite growing acclaim, including support from KEXP, Under the Radar, WFUV, and a feature on The Tonight Show, Patao found themself questioning the expectations placed on artists to remain palatable, marketable, and non-confrontational.
“There’s so much pressure to be palatable, to find what everyone likes and to do it,” they write. “To follow the systems that are in place, even if you don’t like them, even if they’re wrong.”
The result is one of the most urgent tracks in Patao’s catalog. Rather than offering easy answers, “what” grapples with the growing discomfort in society. Drawing from their experiences as a Native Hawaiian artist and community organizer, the song originates from the pulse of lived experience. Including immigration justice, environmental destruction, and trans rights.
For Patao, the song ultimately became less about fear and more about how to make a difference and responsibility.
“I can’t just protect what I’ve got anymore because it’s being taken away from me anyways. I can’t lay low; I can’t be quiet.”
Though the song’s chorus pleads for listeners to pay attention, Patao says their perspective has evolved since writing it.
“I think the funny thing about this song is that I may be singing, ‘I’m begging you, please,’ but I’m no longer begging. I am telling you to do something. Do anything at all.”
That sentiment has become central to Patao’s artistic philosophy. Over the past year, they have increasingly brought their music into community spaces through benefit shows, fundraisers, teach-ins, and local organizing efforts. The same values that inspired their decision to reject streaming platforms and prioritize direct artist support.
“I hope this song makes you want to meet someone new,” Patao writes. “I hope it makes you want to help someone out who needs you. I hope you make the world safer, even for just one person.”
With daisy deluxe arriving July 24, “what” stands as one of Leilani Patao’s clearest artistic statements yet, a powerful reminder that music can still serve as a catalyst for empathy, community, and action.
Their acclaimed releases have earned support from KEXP, Under the Radar, WFUV, WNYU, KGNU, WORT, The Alternative, Various Small Flames, and more. Through a combination of experimental pop production, emotionally vulnerable songwriting, and a commitment to community-building, Patao continues to challenge conventional ideas about how music is experienced.
Daisy Deluxe is out July 24, 2026, via Audio Antihero.
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