IS THE U.S. READY FOR ASIAN AMERICAN POP STARS?

ime was when we saw literary fame or Hollywood stardom as the final frontier for Asian acceptance in the U.S. More recently the frontier shifted to pro sports and national politics.
     A year into the 21st Century we see Asian lights going on in the literary world, Hollywood and pro sports. We even see Asian Americans in two cabinet posts. But one arena remains starkly devoid of Asian stars -- the pop music scene.
james iha
James Iha, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist/backup vocals & solo recording artist

     Classical stars like Yo-Yo Ma, Seiji Ozawa and Vanessa Mae are old news. We've noted Japanese imports like Shonen Knife, Keiko Matsui and Pizzicato Five. We've marveled at the unlikely hit "Sukiyaki". Many of us have spotted James Iha in Smashing Pumpkins and Jeff Lin in Harvey Danger, or maybe even heard of Asian American bands like Seam and Versus.
     But where is pop music's Chow Yun-Fat, Ichiro, Chang-rae Lee, Norman Mineta?
     One indication of our lack of presence in pop music is the fact that Ming-Na and husband Eric Zee have even financed a record label (Innovazian) in hopes of promoting an Asian American pop/R&B boy group -- a sort of private Head Start program for pop music. Few of us even know its name (At Last). Its first CD sold all of 3,000 copies.
     Those of a paranoid or cynical bent will postulate conspiracies among racist, short-sighted heads of major record labels. The sociologically inclined will see pop music as the inner sanctum of American culture and Asians as the perpetual outsiders.
     But for purposes of this page, put on your music critic/historian hat and prognosticate the most likely path by which an Asian star will ascend to the American pop firmament. Will it be a Canto-Pop, J-Pop or K-Pop star storming the U.S. via the import route? Will it be a surprise chart-topper by an AA artist (say James Iha with another, more successful solo album)? Or will there be a frontal assault by a wave of AA groups/artists currently playing the club and auditorium circuits?

(Updated )

I think that it would be a positive thing is Chinese ,Taiwan, and korean artists made it big in the U.S., but make sure they sing their own native language*it just sounds better*
They also are very tall and the females have skin the colour of ice.
The music is also unlike any in america, they have more techno dance with pop, which I think, the hong kong people excel at.
Juspoe
   Tuesday, December 18, 2001 at 02:44:22 (PST)
If asian music ever comes to the U.S

Let's hope it's from china and korea.
Pop singers are like skyscrapers there!
Very tall.

SAMMI CHENG!!!
JOEY YUNG!!!
KELLY CHEN!!!
LEE HOM!!!
Anyone tall is good!

ThingsToMakeSure
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 23:54:56 (PST)
Everyone is focusing on race as to why Asian pop stars can't make it over here. 1. Get some of these Asian big wigs to spot them some money for marketing.
2. If you have any non-Asian friends, tell them about these Asian musicians. I'm not even Asian & I have some of my non-Asian friends listening to Luna Sea, Sammi Cheng, Akiwa Nanase, M-Flo, Shino Lin, & tons more.
3. Sit in the middle of a public area (I did this in the St. Louis Bread Co., but you can go to McDonald's) & play the music loud. Not too loud, but loud enough for people to hear it without them wanting to kick you out!
4. Just start talking to people about these artists. Sit in a music store & recommend them to someone. GO to school & spread the word around. If your boss let's you listen to music at work, bring in some Asian CDs.
5. VIDEOS. THEY HAVE TO SEE VIDEOS. Buy some VCDs or DVDs play them for your friends, let your friends borrow them, your friends can show them to their friends. And so on, & so on, & so on!
AsioPhile 81
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 21:07:30 (PST)
jay chow???hahhahahaa!he sounds feeble and looks horrible.the usual taiwan mando-pop crap...do you notice that many taiwanese female singers or even male singers sound kinda same???same voice,same music,same image,same love ballads... i think taiwan and hk should come out with talents who are not really only "good to look at" ,but who could really sing and perform.They should have more atristes of different genres. More groups rather than solo artistes.And singers like Andy Lau, Jackie Cheung or Anite Mui are really outdated now and their songs sound rather stale,theyve been in the music industry for decades.Theyd probably sold more records in Asia than the Beetles or Micheal Jackson. I think it is about time we have better new artistes with fresh ideas and fresh music in the chinese music scene,rather than hearing from these same artistes crooning mushy "i love you,you love me" ballads.We need better,newer ,more varied, fresher talents. I dont think Asians are lack of talents. with the right music,marketing,image,promo,exposure,international performances,they can be asa good as any white or black singer.
Musica
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 16:46:55 (PST)
i lived in Malaysia,southeast asia for a year .There are many talented artistes from the region itself.I have to say they sound much better than these east asian k-pop or j-pop or canto-pop stuff that we usually listen to.Ive heard of an artiste named anggun (a javanese diva who made in big in europe and is now based in paris),she sounds fantastic,plus her beautiful exotic looks.There's also a few good malaysian rap/hip hop group who definitely sounds better than LMF called "Too Phat" and "Poetic Ammunition".There are aa few good singers fr singapore,one called "Ferhad" the soulman.And of course,there are so many beautiful singers from the phillipines who could sing fluently in english and are really talented. We have many talented people from SEA and asia,but none of them have the opportunity to make it big outside of their own country.
Sweetpea
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 16:26:05 (PST)
is america really ready for an asian pop star? hell yah! but the powers of the music industry deny asian representation solely based on racial denomination. we have white/black/latin pop stars that race through all genres of music fans adore and emulate. the problem is will the music giants allow asian pop stars to be consumed by americans. we must look at the historical aspects of asians in america, because history will tell our tale. the asian experience with america has been of feeling like we are "strangers from a different shore" here to steal american jobs. the vietnam war, the attack on pearl harbor by the japanese, korean-american war, philippin-american war in the beginning of the 20th century, japanese internment, japanese corporations and business far exceeding domestic corporations (sony, mitsubishi, acura, etc.) ....all of these factors in the anti-asian sentiment america holds. if we don't look at all these aspects of the asian american experience into account, then we won't fully understand why and what shapes the american psche and how they regard us. what about the asian male/female identities? how has the media portrayed these genders? i say not very well rounded and these gender identities have historical significance. take for instance the vietnam war, GI's brought back with them vietnamese wives that were seen as "whores." (miss saigon the musical) what about asian men. our identities as men have been shaped by the war. we have been seen as the enemy historically throughout american history. ie. vietnam war, chinese exclusion act, anti-miscegenation, etc. all these experiences must be considered because american consciousness is passed through generations and through oral history. do i believe its time to change american minds about asians...of course! will the music industry be apart of that change...i hope so.
jaded
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 15:58:58 (PST)

To Dan,



You said "don't make me laugh. beyond? i can play my guitar 20 times better than they will ever do."



How can you say Paul Wong's guitar technique is sh*tty and that you can play 20x better than him???

If you can play better than Paul Wong, then you should be kicking every white dude's ass such as Steve Vai, Satriani, and Ritchie Blackmore. You should be hitting the charts and taking the spotlight! Easier said than done!!! Can you even play the damn guitar? Do you know any middle eastern modalities/scales??? If you don't, please shut the f**k up!!!


In fact, some non-asians think Beyond is an awesome band, and better than some of these crappy white bands. Most American bands are not versatile, they either play songs with a blues progression or a I, VI, IV, V Chord progression without any freaking derivatives.


Name a band from this country that has the status of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Zeppelin or even Radiohead???

James Iha and LMF both suck ass!
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 15:36:46 (PST)

I wish that Luna Sea, from Japan, would get back together & try to take the USA by storm. Those guys ROCK or should I say rocked.
AsioPhile 81
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 14:53:05 (PST)
linkin park's supporting singer in half japanese ( his dad, surprise!) i support linkin park... and they are very asianish


i hope JAY CHOW(pop/r&b)will make it.... he is the type of singer and song writer that u see once in a decade. he's taiwanese hope, asian hope! try download his music if u haven't heard him.

LMF? don't make me laugh. beyond? i can play my guitar 20 times better than they will ever do
dan
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 06:18:24 (PST)
i think asian singers who dream or aspire to make it big in the US or europe should at least master the english language.Many Asian singers can't really sing or speak in proper english. Look at Celine Dion,she can sing well in english,she's known internationally for her english albums first,and its only later that ppl listen to her other french albums and discover her ability in delivering songs of a different language.I think asian artistes should be linguistically versatile,so that they can be well-known both in asia and the west.If our asian artistes can sing or rap in english,fluently,this means they succeed in making the first step towards worldwide recognition as international artistes.
JUSTYNNA
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 05:05:21 (PST)
Hallelujah!!!

A few people realized that Big Head Todd and the Monsters is an American rock band fronted by an Asian American (hapa, at least). They've had many radio hits ("Bittersweet," "In the Morning," "Kensington Line," etc.) and managed to go nearly platinum with their last couple of albums WITHOUT MTV, relying solely on a grassroots touring mindset to build a real, non-fairweather fan base.

The reason most people aren't aware of this band is due to the simple fact that their music succeeds on its own merits rather than the novelty of an AA singing it. And considering BHT&M don't care for videos, visually they seem to keep a low profile on the hype radar. Though, if you've ever seen them in concert (I have; they played with Dave Matthews Band and the Boxing Ghandis), you'd never question the caliber and quality of their music.

A round of applause for BHT&M, and a sly nod to those who know about them and appreciate the real music they play. May rock 'n roll make a comeback, and save us from the glut of marginal pop that dominates the tv and radiowaves now.
Bulgogi Boy
   Monday, December 17, 2001 at 00:25:45 (PST)

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