When people think of music, they might be hard pressed to name an Asian or Asian American musician.
It’s not that they’re not out there, but unfortunately few with the exception of Psy have gained prominence in the mainstream or popular media.
Lisa Bernier in her piece for Policy Mic singled out 11 Asian musicians worthy of your attention.
Each of the names includes a brief bio and a video clip that many of you will find enjoyable.
Judge your music IQ by seeing how many of these names you recognize.
Awkwafina (pictured) is a rapper from Queens who tackles sexuality, race and negative stereotypes.
Malaysian singer songwriter Yuna has appeared on Conan, Last Call With Carson Daly and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Who Who is from Korea but their electric sound is as far from K-Pop as you might imagine.
Ruby Ibarra hails from San Lorenzo, CA near Oakland. The Filipino rapper is at ease going back and forth between English and Tagalog.
The multi-racial Crystal Kay has already hit it big in Japan and released her US debut this month featuring an R&B and pop sound.
Andy Suzuki and the Method uses their sound to take on the challenges often faced by hyphenated Americans.
The California-based Korean American band Run River North released their debut album this year and is already generating a lot of buzz and have been compared to Mumford & Sons.
Hip Hop duo Blue Scholars teams up a Filipino American activist with an Iranian American music partner.
Hip hop artist Beenzino is a slick mix of Motown and 90’s rap and is from South Korea.
Chinese born and American raised Baiyu has already made a number of musicians to watch list with her R&B and pop sound.
Finally Bambu is a Filipino American former gang member turned hip hop artist and activist.
How many did you recognize? You can check all 11 out in Policy Mic.
