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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Is the U.S. Ready for Asian American Pop Stars?
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:57:21 PM)
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, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist/backup vocals & solo recording artist
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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?
This interactive article is closed to new input.
Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
Yo JC,
Jin is the first asian rapper signed to a major record label .... some call him "the Chinese Eminem" not just cuz he aint black, but cuz he also has that same high-ptich nasal voice like Em, an unorthodox freeform style, hilarious and creative wordplay .... here's a memorable line of his:
"Yeah, I'm Chinese, maybe now you'll understand it ... I'm the reason why your little sister's eyes are slanted."
He's won several rap battles across the country, me and ma' boyz saw him in NYC ....
Other asian MC's to check out are Smilez&Southstar, Snacky Chan, Thai. Here are some links wit stuff bout Jin:
http://www.holla-front.com/
... and BeatBoxB my funk soul azn hip-hop brothuh, forget bout this "harold ming" cat ... he ain't worth it man, the dude just dont get it ... think it was Cat Kim who said: "Don't argue with a fool". Just think like Dre: "If y'all don't like me, BLOW ME!"
Peace out y'all.
Ninja Turtle
Tuesday, March 04, 2003 at 11:25:04 (PST)
[64.37.155.9]
hello my name is Jen, i live in new york but i believe that asian pop is soo much better than american pop. i am american but i would much rather sing k-pop or j-pop ^.^ I love bands like s.e.s and h.o.t before their break up. so all i am saying is that k-pop and j-pop are the best!
Love,
Jen
Jenn
DemonicSusamo15@aol.com
Tuesday, March 04, 2003 at 05:37:32 (PST)
[152.163.189.136]
BeatBoxB:
Perhaps you've already "blown up" but
just don't realize it !
Oh that's right you're waiting for your
invitation to be on MTV. I think I got
it.
By the way your claim that hip-hop is the #1 musical format is unimpressive to say the least. Every one over the age of reason knows that young people dish out more expendible income on records and tapes than anyone else. Oops, I better
clear the area, you're about to blow up right ?
harold ming
Monday, March 03, 2003 at 10:08:36 (PST)
[153.104.214.108]
Well, although Jay Chou experiments with rap, I don't think he's trying to be a hardcore full-up rapper anyways, more of an alternative R&B type...but not that anyone has to define themselves at all.
Ok, who's this Jin Tha cat? Got any links?
JC
Monday, March 03, 2003 at 07:29:08 (PST)
[148.104.5.7]
I totally agree with you guys and I am not azn and I do listen to azn singers and I've let some of my friends listen to some of their songs and they dont like them cause the ethnicity and I think people should just listen to the music not pay attention to the race of them. One thing do any of you know if the guy ronnie has a cd cause I have only heard one of his songs and it is on the cd project kamikaze.so if ne of u kno of him please email me.at darkecco@hotmail.com
darkangel
darkecco@hotmail.com
Sunday, March 02, 2003 at 17:35:01 (PST)
[165.247.225.12]
WHOA, WHOA, before all the hate mails come pouring in, I just wanna do a little damage control here before its too late!! ALL my fobby, AA, black and white homies were gonna ROYALLY KICK MY ASS after reading my last post!!!!!! Wasn't sure why til I read it again ........
Ok .. some clarifications DEFINITELY needed cuz i just realized lots what I just said can diss tons people out there taken outta context!! (I feel like "Malaysian Sensation" all of a sudden!)
First my fobby buds tell me i shoudln't say "fobby". (Thats cooh! Now if you can just let me go from that taekwando headlock K.C., hehehe) .... then they question me what the f@#* Im talkin about with "asian gangsta beats" so i let em listen to all the fobby asian rap mp3's I've been downloadin .... so they tell me the ones by Jay Chou with machine-gun sounds are about a "war" NOT about some gangsta shootout! Some of the other groups "may" have been about triad and yakuza stuff but we werent sure cuz they were in japanese..... ok, so moral of story = DON'T BE TOO QUICK TO JUDGE! Hey, at least i'm tryin to be openminded to learn more about my "fobby" brothuh's and sista's. (OW!). Ok, Jay's cooh!
Then my AA, black and white homies surround me and ask WHAT THE F@#* YOU MEAN BY "UNDERGROUND CRAP"??!! OK, OK, relax, lemme explain guys, hehe .... if y'all could just chill and back off a little .... all i was sayin, wuz aside from TOTALLY DIGGING DA UNDERGROUND, that I meant was merely that people who call Dr. Dre, Eminem or whichever rapper who made it big "sellouts" are just being huge hypocrites just cuz they couldnt get there themselves ... same thing happened with that punk band Green Day. Whoever believes in that "sellout crap" are either green with envy or COMMUNISTS! (prolly will get flamed for that but this time I really mean it).
C'mon ma' boyz, y'all know I totally diggity-dig da underground!! We all went to see Jin Tha freestylin together, remember??!! (BTW if y'all wanna see a REAL asian rapper, Jin is DA MAN! Look out for him in "The Fast and Furious 2".)
OKOK, i'm still just a young foolish smartass loudmouth kid, so sue me, what dy'all expect?!
But I DO stand with one thing .... that if anyone (of ANY race) is taking a stab at rap/hip-hop as an "artist" you MUST have experienced da streets of somewhere like Compton or wherever othuhwise ITS ALL FAKE!!!
NinjaTurtle,young jackass
Saturday, March 01, 2003 at 01:43:37 (PST)
[64.37.155.9]
Regine Velasquez of the Philippines is very talented aside from being known as "the Belter and Asia's Songbird reaching those high notes she is also a good actress. She can sing any songs even it's too high like the song of her I'll never say goodbye and I don't wanna miss a thing. Addition to that the song of Celine Dion All by myself proven that Regine V. is truly the best diva and songbird w/c no one can beat her truly the undisputed songbird
marc
Friday, February 28, 2003 at 22:00:10 (PST)
[202.91.161.250]
There is an asian singer/songwriter on the east coast named Joseph Kay who absolutely rocks. Kinda reminds me of a Peter Gabriel/Edwin McCain mix. I caught him playing a show at the bottle and cork in dewey, delaware where he just about floored the audience with his songwriting. Does anyone know who this is? I've been looking online but never found anything.
hannah kim
Friday, February 28, 2003 at 15:59:35 (PST)
[138.88.99.154]
"where on da othuh hand my boys Ice-T, Dre, Pac, Snoop Dogg, and whatnot are the REAL DEAL having actually LIVED 'da streets"
Yeah, and they all live in the Hills now. Gimme a break, the only peeps who really buy into those ghetto fantasies anyways are 14-yo suburban wannabe's. If they were so real, they'd also be rappin about hangin out at the mall or the studio, which is where they spend 90% of their time now, not dodging bullets on "da streets."
Playstation 2 playas
Friday, February 28, 2003 at 15:45:13 (PST)
[148.104.5.7]
So Im tryin ta practice "tolerance" as preached by AAgal and others, so I check out JayChou and a couple of dem other fobby cats ... you know, to scope out what dey made of and all .... and I must admit, some of these cats got alright stys and decent beats. JC's pretty well-rounded in different moods and does em all quite naturally ... HOWEVER, he runs into problems when he attempts "gangsta beats" the way I see it. See, problem I see here, is lots of the gangsta tunes and rap done by fobby asians are inspired by HK gangsta films like John Woo flics and whatnot, or even Japan anime .... totally hocus pocus crap (all made up) performed by upper-middle-class preppy boyz .... where on da othuh hand my boys Ice-T, Dre, Pac, Snoop Dogg, and whatnot are the REAL DEAL having actually LIVED 'da streets ... so when I hear machine-gun sounds in the background of JC and other fob tunes, it comes across totally fake and contrived but its perfectly natural in say, an N.W.A. tune. Highly doubt Jay's ever sqeezed the trigger of an oozy, or has even seen one for that matter ....
While on the subject ... for all those who feel Dre+Em have "gone pop" you still cant deny of their wicked rhymes and ill beats! Personally I never believed in all this "underground" crap ... "if you got it, flaunt it" doesnt just apply to chicks alone .... lots of the hate for pop are from, in the words of Dre:
"Hated on by most these negroes** wit no cheese, no deals and no G's. No wheels and no keys, no boats no snowmobiles, and no ski's. Mad at me cause I can finally afford to provide my family wit groceries. Got a crib wit a studio and it's all full of tracks to add to the wall full of plaques ..."
** = racially friendlier version
And the ultimate line from Dre that sums up this whole discussion:
"If y'all don't like me, BLOW ME!"
NinjaTurtle, music critic
Thursday, February 27, 2003 at 11:20:39 (PST)
[64.37.155.9]
Japanese bands aren't impressive.They are more like westerner wannabe's than true talents.
And most Japanese dvas can't sing.
Asian singers who can really sing don't really come from Japan.
CTHD
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 at 20:01:57 (PST)
[210.187.156.32]
Yo Duble-truble, thanks 4 the props fam. And I agree ALL double standards need to be erased. I was just naming one of them. Now on to my man Harold, though I don’t like a lot of artist or their music, I would never say anything negative about another person’s art. Who are WE to judge someone else’s poetry or melody? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder my man, so 4 you to put down Hip-Hop music is wrong & dumb. Like I’ve stated before, THAT’S JUST YOUR OPPINION! And your opinion is obviously not shared with the rest of the world. Hip-Hop is not only the #1 selling musical format, but also has also influenced & helped my other “Artist” record sells & re-establish their careers. “Artist” such as Santana, Aerosmith, No Doubt, Enrique Iglesis, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Mariah Carey, and the list goes way on. So watch who you point that finger at partna’, chances are you probably OWN a few of these “talent-less” artists `CD’s. Oh and one more thing, I’m 1/8 American Indian, does that mean I’ll be recognized as the 1st American Indian record producer when I blow up? Get REAL! I though this was a forum about an “ASIAN AMERICAN” pop star. Now’s who’s afraid to support their own? Go CAT!
BeatBoxB
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 at 16:50:41 (PST)
[64.12.96.103]
Yvonne Elliman (No. 1 Hit: "If I can't Have You") was half-Japanese?
I LOVED that song!
ah ah ah ah...
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 at 09:55:50 (PST)
[148.104.5.7]
I wish that Americans had great taste in music. If they did, [Japanese bands] Buck-Tick, Luna Sea, Dir En Grey, L'Arc En Ciel, & (my dude) GACKT would have their faces all over the place!
Somalia
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 at 23:19:40 (PST)
[65.57.59.30]
Haha, thats what I say giving 'em a piece of yer mind AAgal! I prolly aggree 90% of it cuz who dont dig womens lib, world peace, and freedom?
Only thing is, I don't see how porn is gonna lead to world peace? No matter how openminded I try, t+a's are t+a's babe! Don't think nobodys gonna win nobel peace prize for sending Saddam a crate of Debbie does Dallas and Britney Spear tapes! Prolly will START a war:
Saddam:
"Who sent unholy garbage music with brainless bimbo with big boobies??!!"
Osama: "Krazy American infidels!!!"
Haha, looks like AAgal still has a little hots for boy bands these days! 8oP
-NT
ps Would a brainy asain babe in your mid twentys (Im guessing) be interested in a younger asian stud like, oh lets say, MYSELF? I dont have a job and still live at home with parents but when I slick my hair back I kinda look like Jimmy Dean! Haha, just joshin' babe, you rock!!
NinjaTurtle,rebl wit cauz
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 at 10:32:44 (PST)
[64.37.155.9]
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