Hoku planned to work on a second album for Interscope after the March 2001 release of her single "Perfect Day". Struggling to find a niche in the pop music industry, she left the label, disagreeing with them regarding her image and marketing, which she felt clashed with her Pentecostal Christian upbringing. She wrote and funded an EP, "Listen Up", which was released on August 1, 2008, through the singer's own Ola Vista Records. She opened for Gwen Stefani's Neal S. Blaisdell Center shows of The Sweet Escape Tour later that month. In March 2018, she decided to return to her music and release an EP titled "Called by Name". Unlike her previous works, this is her first Christian EP.