An article by Lisa Bernier in Policy Mic features 11 Asian American musicians who are facing stereotypes head on in their music everyday.
“When I was growing up, I grew up in all white towns, and I was made fun of a lot for being Asian,” said Jhameel who has built a nice fan base in Los Angeles. “When I became a teenager, I became ashamed of it, and nobody should think that ever about the race they are.
“[Music] became more of an outlet to say something that really mattered to me. I didn’t expect people to listen, but it became an obsession after that and then became my career.”
Andrew Huang has challenged conventions about his race, but also his music. He jumps from genre to genre, refusing to be classified.
Our under-representation in media — then and now — is a total shame of course, but I wonder if it freed me to explore who I could become with more purpose and more precision. I was going to destroy people’s expectations just by holding a bass guitar rather than sitting at a piano, so why not try writing ska songs, producing techno beats, rapping, DJing, joining a jazz band?”
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You can read about more musicians including Andy Suzuki, Bambu, Baiyu, Kawehi, Ruby Ibarra, Mio Soul, Jason Gorelick, Awkwafina, and Alex Hwang in Policy Mic