#asian american music

[honghongyue]

In MDZS (and much of other Chinese media), we see our main characters use instruments as a way to advance the story. While the use of instruments, especially in xianxias, stems from Taoist and traditional spiritual beliefs, the presence of instruments as a method of change is a very significant phenomenon in Asian diasporas. Like how chengqing became a symbol for the yiling laozu’s defiant presence, Asian American diasporas have used music as a way to initiate communal change.

Because of this, I wanted to start a short blog series exploring different musical movements used in Asian diaspora history !! Music, culture, and politics are huge interests of mine so… hehe.

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1– A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle of Asians in America

Released 1970’s in response to the decade’s ongoing Asian American Movement

One of the most prominent examples of Asian American musical movements and recognized as the first album of “Asian American music,” Chris Kando Iijima, Nobuko JoAnne Miyamoto, and William “Charlie” Chin created songs to demonstrate the struggles of Asian Americans at the time. From songs like We are the Children, which explained the artists’ ancestry and “othered” identities in America, and Yellow Pearl, a reference to the Yellow Peril and societal oppression, the album challenged Asian American oppression and vocalized emotional struggles faced by diasporas throughout the nation.

Musically, traditional instruments (like the oh-so-familiar dizi!) were occasionally woven into an American, jazz-and-folk style of song.

In addition to connecting to their own culture, these artists used their music as a way to protest against war and advocate for ethnic studies. In pan-asian ethnic enclaves (ie. Chinatowns), they organized in support of locals, small businesses, and established art workshops and social service centers. They went on to inspire other artists through live performances, such as filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura, and each artist would go on to establish their own projects. For Miyamoto, it would be the Great Leap Inc., a community performance organization in Los Angeles. For Chin, it would be New York’s Chinatown History Project, which would become the Museum of Chinese in the Americas. And for Iijima, he would go on to become a lawyer for Native Hawaiian rights.

[sivavakkiyar]

[toiletpotato]

The 2023 American Girl Doll of the Year is Kavi Sharma, a South Asian American theatre kid who loves Wicked SO SHE HAS A REPLICA ELPHABA COSTUME. I am absolutely ecstatic that kids get this.

edit: SHE ALSO HAS A GLINDA COSTUME

SHE ALSO HAS THIS!! BECAUSE SHE PERFORMS A TRADITIONAL DANCE ROUTINE WITH HER FRIENDS AT SCHOOL AND SHE LOVES BOLLYWOOD

[frommybedroom]

so i’m thinking about japanese american paul holden, and how his mom performs kashin on him (also known as gua sha in chinese medicine, aka that scraping that all the beauty influencers on tiktok do now but has deep roots in asian culture). i imagine the first time darry saw it he was freaked out because the skin can get pretty red if you’re holding in a lot of tension, but then paul explained to him that it doesn’t hurt, convinced darry to let him try it, and afterwards it was the first time darry felt completely relaxed.

and years later, after the curtis parents have died and darry and paul have drifted apart, he comes home, sits at the table, and rubs his shoulders, thinking about how much he would like paul to perform kashin on him again before forcing himself up cuz someone has to make dinner for soda and pony.

[purecommemasolitude]

One of the lines that makes me go craziest about Asian Paul is “this could’ve happened to anyone”

Like with white Paul it’s him waking up and realizing the consequences of what they’ve been doing and also their own mortality

But Asian Paul? There’s no way he’s not aware that he’s always in more danger than every one of his Soc friends. Personallyyy I like the take that his phrasing there is just a cover that he’s really talking about himself. And then you could go either way of the terror of him always being in a precarious position and the real narrowed-in statement that that in a lot of situations it is him lying dead now, or the heartbreak of he always thought it was going to be him who got attacked and beaten down, and he doesn’t know how to cope now that it’s his best friend instead and he’s the one who has to keep living

[brokenlovesong]

RYO PAUL RAMBLING

Something I find so fascinating about Ryo Paul is how Ryo playing him changes the dynamic of Paul with everyone else. Ryo’s Paul feels much less intimidating than say Dan Paul or even Victor Paul. He’s tall, but physically smaller in stature and more soft spoken, even when he’s angry. He feels like a scared kid with more anger than he knows what to do with.

Bob is a much more imposing character compared to him. He’s loud, abrasive, and will say whatever he feels. He doesn’t care who he offends. He’s a very in charge type of person.

It makes sense that Paul would follow him. He’s this big tough all American boy and especially during the period and where they lived, that’s the type of person Paul wanted to be. It’s probably what his parents raised him wanting as well. For Asian families in America in the 60s where they may be some of the only Asian families in the neighborhood, assimilation was often a huge priority. The idea of fitting in and having that “perfect American life”. The model minority myth played into this idea greatly. East Asians especially were seen as the “whitest” people of color, if that makes sense.

Bob let him into their group, full of guys who are what Paul aspired to be (ie white). So he followed Bob and it gave him a pretty nice life. The town respected him because of the company he kept in comparison to the greasers. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t white was when he was surrounded by his friends. That made him seem like one of the “good ones”. Living on the west side and having the appearance of having money helped this as well because it meant his future was bright. He would have opportunities.

When Bob died, that’s the first time you really see him in a leadership position. I don’t think under any other circumstances the socs would’ve followed him like that. But he used their anger and gave them a target and because of that he was able to rally the socs together for the common enemy

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

SASAMI

[yourdailyqueer]

Avu-chan

Gender: Non binary (she/her or kanojo)

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: N/A

Ethnicity: Japanese, African American

Nationality: Japanese

Occupation: Singer, songwriter, music producer

[demisexual-in-distress]

MUSICAL THEATRE PPL

ESPECIALLY MY FELLOW ASIAN ONES

GO SHOW THIS MUSICAL SOME FUCKING LOVE

DESC:

OUT is a coming-of-age drama-comedy that weaves together stories of three queer Asian kids in their mid-20s. When OLIVER accidentally tells his parents that he’s found a girlfriend, he turns, as one does, to the internet. With the help of his best friend, KASEY, and a new dating app “+1”, he hires MAY to be his pretend date. The three soon find their lives becoming intertwined in more ways than they’d expected, and begin to question not only who they are, but what they owe to their families.

Book by Kalos Chu

Music by Ian Chan

Lyrics by JuHye Mun

I think it deserves so much more attention than it's gotten!!

[gennsoup]

One does not play memories of music; one plays music itself. And lifetimes, from beginning to end, are as sheets of music, ready to be played.

Ryka Aoki, Light from Uncommon Stars

[chilli-talks-a-lot]

Dude, punk and Riot Grrrl specifically were so important to me because it not only allowed me to express my struggles as a girl but as an Asian-American.

The model minority myth was pushed onto my parents and onto me by my parents. Sometimes I get really stressed out about my identity because I am basically a walking, living, breathing stereotype. I get straight As every year, I'm good at math, I literally wear a Harvard hoodie every day because it helps me keep sight of my goals.

Punk is my way of combatting that. Listening to punk music and embracing punk culture is my way of saying, "I am not your model minority myth. I will not stay quiet. I have struggles. I may be doing well in school, but the education system is still systemically flawed." It helped me remember that I am who I am not because I want to perpetuate those stereotypes but because I want to go far in life. Riot Grrrl helped me say, "My ideas should be taken seriously."

But, Riot Grrrl isn't inclusive of WOC.

Riot Grrrl isn't inclusive of me.

The worst thing about this is that I thought it did. The Riot Grrrl movement supports young, white, middle-class women. I am a young, Asian, middle-class woman. I was blinded by my middle-class privilege, preventing me from seeing the hostility towards WOC in this movement. And in that, I lumped myself in with white people.

I am not white, and I don't want to be seen as white. My dad and I constantly get comments like, "You're basically white people."

So yeah. I don't want to be a Riot Grrrl anymore. We need a cool new intersectional feminist punk movement now.

[sivavakkiyar]

from the liner notes of the original Grain of Sand LP

[nugothrhythms]

Music video to "녹슨 칼" (pronounced "nohkseun kal," meaning "rusty knife") by Las Vegas, Nevada-based nugoth and sadwave band past self off of their 2023 EP Die Cry Hate. They have music in both English and Korean and sometimes refer to themselves as "k-goth."

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Anne Akiko Meyers

Anne Akiko Meyers was born in 1970 in San Diego, California. Meyers is one of the world's most esteemed and sought-after violinists. She made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 11, and has premiered new music with symphony orchestras from around the world. Meyers has released more than 40 albums and been nominated for a Grammy Award. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as Mexico City's Auditorio Nacional. Meyers performed the national anthem in front of 42,000 fans at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, and performed for an audience of 750,000 at the Austrlian Bicentennial Concert in Sydney Harbour.

[purecommemasolitude]

Ever since Ryo debuted I have been Thinking about a Paul with more traditional parents who have accents and behave in ways that he finds embarrassing. And the importance of keeping that from people to keep his social status. And then the trust it would need to let Darry spend the night at his place

[citsiurtlanu]

okay i got tagged by both @phoenixmetaphor and @nostalgicatsea so i must expose how uncool my music taste is and post five songs i've been listening to a lot lately. i had to title something recently so all of these songs' lyrics/titles were in contention for that (and then in the end i didn't actually use any of them... not directly, anyway. lol)

And at once, I knew I was not magnificent High above the highway aisle Jagged vacance, thick with ice And I could see for miles, miles, miles

(this song was the closest to being the winner and i named the fic epoch instead of holocene hahahahaha. shoutout to chibueze ihuoma, who was hadestown's touring orpheus for a while, for covering it 'cause seeing that made me fall in love with this song)

In the confusion and the aftermath You are my signal fire The only resolution and the only joy Is the faint spark of forgiveness in your eyes

Let's raise a glass or two To all the things I've lost on you Tell me are they lost on you? Just that you could cut me loose After everything I've lost on you Is that lost on you?

But there is no one who Could wake my heart like this Could break my world in two I felt a suddenness

Don't wait, don't wait The lights will flash and fade away The days will pass you by Don't wait To lay your armor down