Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 03:05 AM
Posted by Mickey Fresh
First off, I just want to apologize for the delay on the updates. I really wanted to take some time to talk about this event because it really meant a lot to me. Seeing everyone up there perform gave me goose bumps. I can’t speak for all the Asian Americans out there, but I myself felt really proud watching all the acts do their thing. I remember it was Magnetic North that mentioned somewhere in their lyrics about feeling faceless. And that’s why I feel it’s so important that more people in the Asian American community blow up in the entertainment business. We need more positive Asian American figures in the media, role models our younger generation can look up to.
Growing up, I myself always felt that I had problems with identity. As a kid, when I looked at the media, the only time I saw Asians was when they were the pathetic butt end of some fob joke, or some kind of triad gangster. None of these personas was the type that I wanted to identify myself with. I went through phases of the other different races I tried to act like. I felt shorted out of a hero or role model that I could look up to and relate with. I wanted a face that the public saw that wasn’t embarrassing or some kind of lowly criminal. It got to a point that I went through a fob stage where I just wanted to only listen to and watch Chinese media. How much more ‘roots’ can you get then that right? But that didn’t work out. I realized that when I tried to fit into that crowd, we just simply couldn’t communicate. Hilarious right? My Chinese just sucked that bad, English was my first language. There had to be another way, I needed to find another outlet. I felt like that for awhile, but it wasn’t until many years later that I discovered something called myspace.
I went through the regular phase that everyone goes though upon first discovering myspace. You know, a few short weeks after I checked out EVERY girl there was to check out, I started to use it to look for Asian American artist. I somehow ran into Magnetic North first. My first impression was that they had really dope poetic lyrical content that is almost nonexistent today in present day hip hop. Next I ran into the Far East Movement. After I heard “Boom Shake”, I was like what the hell? These guys don’t have a record deal? This industry is fucking crazy. That’s a record I bang loud up and down Sunset. At the same time I was hearing other stuff on the radio that just made no sense. Someone even blatantly mentioned on their track that they don’t even need to say nothing on the track and still be hot. Most of the other stuff I was hearing at that particular time on the radio was a big mess of garbage. How the hell did they get on the radio? During that time FM hadn’t even got radio play yet. I been following them ever since. I was probably more excited then them when I first heard them played on Power 106. This wasn’t even the new at two yet. It was some kind of holiday weekend mix that DJ Virman was spinning. I started calling friends that I had linked FM’s myspace to previously to make them turn on the radio. I done lost my mind! “FM is on the radio! Round Round is on!”. My peeps was pissed cause it was like 1 in the afternoon and we were out partying the night before. By pure coincidence I bumped into Paul Dateh’s “Hip Hop Violin” on college humor and posted him on my myspace shortly after. Up until ISA, I didn’t even know his name. I’m glad I found out though, cause that kid has some sick skills and I’ll definitely buy his album. Seeing them all in one place made me feel like my search was over.
I heard somewhere that Asians are the model minority. The majority of us are docile and don’t stir things up much. We tend to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. We assimilate and generally don’t challenge authority, even if we are on the short end of the stick. Sure its great that some Asian Americans choose to go the route of higher education and try to attain high positions in white collar jobs. But what about the others that want to earn their living using their creative side. Acting, singing, rapping, dancing, and sports, yup, Asian Americans love those things too. And some of them want to make their living doing those things. But I feel that American society as a whole doesn’t give Asian Americans a fair chance in the entertainment business. I don’t have a list for you, but most Asian kids that grow up here have to move back to Asia to get a fair chance in entertainment.
I remember attending a Kollaboration stand up comedy event when comedian PK mentioned something about Asians at concerts. He said he felt sad for the artist performing cause when they would try to hype the crowd up, everyone kept their hands down. The joke was that if he was a rapper, he would tell the crowd to keep their hands down if they felt his performance. Whether you think this is funny or not, my experience is that this is mostly true. (Not to knock on the fans that showed up at ISA or PK, the fans were awesome, and PK is one of my favorite comedians.) I want so bad for that to change. They call us model minorities because they want us to shut up and listen. I don’t want to be the model minority. I want to be at the front lines with the other minorities fighting for equality, and getting our fair share of the American Dream and every aspect it has to offer.
Asian Americans have done so much for this country since its very conception up till present day. Yet our public image has changed very little since then. Asian guys rarely ever get the girl on TV or the big screen. Email me if any of you remember any other movies, but the only one I can think of is Harold And Kumar. Asian females in the big screen always go with non-Asians. As a result, my observation is Asian kids tend to be ashamed of their roots. They go out of their way to dress act and talk like other races. I’ve met girls that say they will only date guys that are non-Asian. Now I’m totally for interracial relationships because I feel all people of every color and creed are created equal. But it seems like the Asian girls that say they won’t date Asians are more ashamed of their own roots then anything else. My whole point is that I want my kids to grow up in an America that they can truly be themselves and feel comfortable in their own skin. Events like ISA empower our people through entertainment and we need to see more events like this. I know we veered off course from our normal light-hearted tone that you’re so used too. I now return you to your regular programming.
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