Armato assisted Hoku in securing the deal, and Ho insisted that he and his lawyers review it before she signed. "I don't have to doctor it and use all the tricks of the studio." Hoku was attending Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, dropping her last name when she moved from Hawaii, when she was offered a $300,000 contract from Geffen Records. She caught the attention of songwriter and producer Antonina Armato, who encouraged her to move to Los Angeles to meet with other producers. "People helped me a lot, because of who my dad was," she said. Hoku credits her father for her discovery. "I thought everyone's parents had shows at night," she said. She was initially unaware of her father's fame, learning from people's reactions after realizing who her father was.
Hoku frequently performed with her father, who taught her how to write songs, as a child. For a time, Clements lived in an affluent Hawaiian neighborhood, Diamond Head, with Don, Patricia, Kaimana, Don's ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Guevara, and Don and Elizabeth's two daughters. She has one full sibling, a younger sister named Kaimana, and eight half-siblings. Her father was hapa, of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, German, and Dutch descent.
Her given name, Hoku, is the Hawaiian word for star. Hoku was born Hoku Christian Ho on June 10, 1981, on the island of Oahu, part of the Hawaiian Islands, the daughter of entertainer Don Ho and Patricia Swallie.