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What is Asian American music? We tend to try to categorize music into genres and styles, periods and places. But given that Asian American contributions to music bridge these qualifiers, this is an impossible question to answer. The Asian American movement of the 1960s and 1970s helped to create solidarity for Asian Americans across ethnicities, but the histories of Asian Americans and Asian American musicians are wide-ranging and diverse. From Japanese Breakfast to Mitski and from Karen O to Bruno Mars, we see the impact of Asian American musicians across musical spaces.
Rather than define Asian American music and sound, we can recognize the variety of musical contributions made by Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians.
Often played at raves and nightclubs, and including subgenres ranging from house music to techno to dubstep, electronic dance music was a major part of the 1980s musical landscape, as it is still today. However, the EDM space has been predominately homogeneous and occupied by mostly white, middle-class participants. Raves and festival scenes are theoretically rooted in an acceptance of all, but the lack of diversity tells a different story.
Judy Soojin Park discusses the recent increase in young Asian American participants in the EDM space. The chapter focuses in particular on events organized by Insomniac Events in Los Angeles and the ways in which they have adopted the ideology of PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect). Using interviews with young Asian Americans in the EDM community, this chapter discusses how Asian American “otherness” has not discouraged but rather motivated their involvement in EDM festivals. Through these interviews and analysis, the chapter explores themes of belonging and authenticity.
➜ To learn more, read Judy Soojin Park’s chapter “Searching for a Cultural Home: Asian American youth in the EDM Festival Scene” from Weekend Societies: Electronic Dance Music Events and Event-Cultures.
Japanese American writer Karen Tei Yamashita is known for exploring in her work themes of border crossing and migration. Her stories span Asia, Europe, and the UK, and draw from her personal history. Recipient of the National Book Foundation 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contributions to Literature, she is credited with helping to re-shape Asian American literature and literary studies.
Nathalie Aghoro’s chapter in The Acoustics of the Social Page and Screen explores Karen Tei Yamashita’s novel Tropic of Orange. A work of magical realism, the book assesses the connections of a diverse 1992 Los Angeles in the face of disaster — and the way sound and listening influences the trajectory of its characters. Aghoro analyzes Yamashita’s characters in the context of heterogeneity and social change, and highlights the impact of sound on socio-political boundaries.
➜ To learn more, read Nathalie Aghoro’s chapter “Sonic Sites of Subversion: Listening and the Politics of Place in Karen Tei Yamashita’s Tropic of Orange” in The Acoustics of the Social on Page and Screen.
Music of specific ethnic groups is often, and sometimes problematically, characterized by generalizations related to common practices and styles. However, to this effect, there is very little consensus on what Asian American music is or isn’t. Asian American musicians, like all musicians, create, influence, and are influenced by a huge range of contemporary styles.
Runchao Liu identifies a predominant thread in Asian American affect, however, as it relates to musical activism — tied to an unconventional nondominance. Liu argues that rather than being timid or weak, this style evokes an exceptional power. The essay uses the case studies of two Cambodian American musicians to demonstrate the potency related to this style of activism and its emotional honesty.
➜ To learn more, read Runchao Liu’s chapter “Unconventionally Confrontational: Radicalized Asian Affects, Diasporic Aesthetics and the Revival of Cambodian (American) Rock Music” in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music and Art.
Native Hawaiian artist Israel Kamakawiwoʻole was best known for his signature ukulele sound and the medley “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.” The well-known track was featured on his 1993 album, Facing Future, which would become the best-selling album of all time by a Hawaiian artist and was certified platinum in 2005. He received global recognition when his song, some years later, was used in commercials and movies. His legacy includes not only his music but his work utilizing his music towards the preservation of Hawaiian culture and rights.
Dan Kois discusses the history and lasting influence of this album. He explores Iz’s career, life, and challenges, and his journey to becoming a musical icon. He goes on to discuss the frequent licensing of the song, its impact on Hawaiian identity and society, and who profited from his music and why.
➜ To learn more, read chapter one, “Drive with Aloha,” and chapter two, “Local,” from Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Facing Future by Dan Kois.
Homepage image credit: Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast performs onstage at the Mojave Tent during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 16, 2022 in Indio, California (Rich Fury / Getty Images)
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