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oberliner

(58,724 posts)
Wed May 23, 2018, 06:50 AM May 2018

Let's Be Real: Asian And Black Artists Aren't "Celebrating" Each Other Through Hip-Hop

Excerpt:

It’s a little unclear how we went from Wu Tang’s earnest obsession to the current state of affairs, where it seems that the demeaning of Asians is done almost as casually as a hometown shoutout. Kanye West, Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Tyler the Creator, and most likely your favorite Black rapper have all rapped a variant of the totally hilarious and super original “eyes so low I look Asian” joke. Cardi B, who runs the game at the moment, called Kim Jong-Un “Won Tung soup” on Twitter, while her fiancee’s groupmate, Quavo, straight up calls Asian people “chinks” in “Get Right Witcha.” One wisecrack on its own is innocuous enough, if slightly annoying. But if any rap album I listen to runs the risk of making fun of my eyes apropos of nothing, that’s an issue; the pervasive pattern presents an undeniable portrait of a slanted perception, in which Asians are othered and associated only with an altered state.

And while most Black rappers don’t go further than one or two punchlines, there’s one artist who consistently makes poor choices: Nicki Minaj. Earlier this month she released the music video for “Chun Li,” which she said was a tribute to her Japanese great-grandfather. But the video — and subsequent performances, including a cringey SNL appearance — contains visual and lyrical content that is not a focused homage to Japan but rather a garble of exociticizing Asian signifiers. There are anime explosion effects (Japan), a tattoo of Chinese characters (China), a reference to mai tais (Polynesian), and coolie hats (Vietnam); Chun Li herself is a Chinese character written by a Japanese video game maker. In attempting to pay tribute to her own heritage, she instead conflates many Asian cultures into an Orientalist mess — just like she did in the “Your Love” video, in which she raps about a Thai samurai while in a geisha costume.

https://www.refinery29.com/2018/05/198457/hip-hop-racism-orientalism

Fascinating article.
18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Let's Be Real: Asian And Black Artists Aren't "Celebrating" Each Other Through Hip-Hop (Original Post) oberliner May 2018 OP
Do you have a point? MrScorpio May 2018 #1
Maybe bigotry is wrong, no matter who is guilty of it? Tipperary May 2018 #2
I'd rather that the OP poster explain his or her point MrScorpio May 2018 #4
Same point he always has... The Polack MSgt May 2018 #3
I can dig it. MrScorpio May 2018 #5
+ JI7 May 2018 #9
Yes. betsuni May 2018 #14
The article is fascinating oberliner May 2018 #7
I read it. And it is very interesting... MrScorpio May 2018 #8
mercy, oh didn't you know???? heaven05 May 2018 #11
Both so called rappers don't represent hip hop Revlon10 May 2018 #6
My interest in the material you posted cyclonefence May 2018 #10
great post and true heaven05 May 2018 #12
Pie-Yow! MrScorpio May 2018 #13
Out of the park! brer cat May 2018 #15
Well said The Polack MSgt May 2018 #16
Interesting article. Learned something new ecstatic May 2018 #17
Racial animosity and stereotyping between marginalized groups is not new. Caliman73 May 2018 #18

MrScorpio

(73,626 posts)
4. I'd rather that the OP poster explain his or her point
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:16 AM
May 2018

The author of the article was a bit more articulate, nuanced and intersectional in the piece.

The Polack MSgt

(13,159 posts)
3. Same point he always has...
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:12 AM
May 2018

I'll try to summarize it for those who have not been following along.

Do you know who the real racists are?

Oberliner does and he is very invested in telling us.

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
7. The article is fascinating
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:28 AM
May 2018

Have you read it?

If so, what are your thoughts?

For me, it provided great insights into a topic I hadn't previously known much about, so I thought it was worth sharing.

MrScorpio

(73,626 posts)
8. I read it. And it is very interesting...
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:39 AM
May 2018

I can see why the author wrote it.

What resonated with me were the last four paragraphs, which I found very positive and encouraging. As the author was clearly making a plea for both Asian and black artists to put more value on substance than superficial style when creating cross-cultural music:

But it feels precarious to point so many fingers because despite the vast differences, Black and Asian people are still both marginalized groups in America. We’re still trying to have our voices heard amidst a white homogeneity, where our creative output already comes with an extra layer of scrutiny. Adding to the confusion is the the lack of American cultural education in Asian countries; can we really fault a Korean artist for being inspired by a dominant global art form?

The way forward is, again, through collaboration and dialogue. Historian Jeff Chang, and radio presenter Miss Info are both Asian Americans and have worked tirelessly over the years to bring hip-hop to new audiences in academia and on the radio. After Keith Ape’s early error, he’s started touring with Black artists and creating music with them; he reached a peace with O.G. Maco after giving him royalties on “It G Ma,” and the song received a fully cross-cultural and incredible remix featuring A$AP Ferg, Father, Waka Flocka Flame, and the Korean-American rapper Dumbfoundead. Keith Ape is a member of 88 Rising, a media company that champions Asian artists from across the diaspora and facilitates collaboration with the Black artists that inspire their music.

The company has earned respect by engaging with the Soundcloud rap movement; their recently announced festival will feature Ape as well as the newly re-christened Rich Brian and the African-American artists Yung Bans and Toro Y Moi. So while hip-hop is still tethered to a uniquely Black American struggle, the free flow of the internet has allowed it to become a vessel for oppressed voices around the world. Just like rock and jazz before it, the music will expand and mutate, with rappers like the Chendu/Brooklyn artist Bohan Phoenix interpolating Asian instrumental samples and bilingual lyricism, forming new strains of hip-hop that are truly intercontinental.

But for these new forms to emerge, Black artists will need to treat Asian culture as more than a squint, and Asians will need to dig further into Black culture than simply a strategic means to coolness. Hip-hop has always been a way to empower oppressed people to tell their own narratives. These lazy efforts threaten the very essence of that, and those looking to expand and elevate the genre would do well to remember that.



I'm just wondering why you believe that it's relevant enough you to post it without comment.

When I last checked, you're neither black nor Asian... i.e., its not as if you have a dog in this race.


 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
11. mercy, oh didn't you know????
Wed May 23, 2018, 08:03 AM
May 2018

he's making the point that AA rappers are just as bigoted as Asians rappers are toward AA with the main focus on African-americans. Not all Asians or AA are bigoted toward each other, but there are cases. He wants to make sure everyone can see that and agree with him. That's all. I think it's an ego thing. As a member of DU for a while now, any post coming from that direction concerning race issues is NEVER surprising and always points the 'stink finger' at African-americans especially.

Revlon10

(177 posts)
6. Both so called rappers don't represent hip hop
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:20 AM
May 2018

Both are fake. Fake lyrics because they don't write there rhymes both have fake body parts selling sex
They are a joke and somebody is making money off selling there cartoon image
The revolution will not be televised real rappers like Lauren Hill and Naz don't get the shine
Real hip hop is fun not about money it's about the streets and social issues.

cyclonefence

(4,483 posts)
10. My interest in the material you posted
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:57 AM
May 2018

is more in why you posted it than in the original author's point. It seems to me that the underlying message, that people of all colors can have racist ideas, is something nobody disagrees with, and it is something about which I don't care. Individual examples of artists or the person on the street, of whatever skin tint, saying and doing things that make you go hmmm are as nothing IF the person is not a member of the dominant (i.e. white) culture. I'm not sure you can really call it racism if the person does not have the power of the culture at large to enforce these beliefs; Nikki Minaj may have committed cultural misappropriation, but that "crime" does not change who the cops are more likely to shoot or who is allowed to nap in a dormitory without having the cops called.

People who espouse bigotry (and I'm again not sure cultural appropriation is a sign of bigotry) are jerks, ignorant, fools, whatever color they are. But that's where it stops as long as they are not white because their racism, if we must call it that, has no power..

White people who espouse bigotry have the institutional power of our culture to inflict actual, too often physical, harm on the people whose skin color is not the same as theirs.

I can understand why white people of good will and liberal values do not want to be called racists. I don't understand why anyone of good will and liberal values would want to insist that in the United States minorities can be racist, too.

The Polack MSgt

(13,159 posts)
16. Well said
Wed May 23, 2018, 09:24 AM
May 2018

But I fear this post won't make a dent - The OP has had this message sent dozens of times in dozens of ways from dozens of DU members.

If you really want to inflame the OP's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Just post on any forum or group - anywhere on DU - that Trump voters are racists.

I've heard that Tolstoy thinks the OP over writes on that topic

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
17. Interesting article. Learned something new
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:11 PM
May 2018

Interesting that a song I listened to a lot last year--Get Right Witcha--was called out as having *extra* offensive lyrics, and I didn't even realize it.

Migos is an equal opportunity offender--everyone gets disrespected, the N word is thrown around left and right, women are objectified, etc. They put out the silliest, most ridiculous songs where it's nearly impossible to learn or even understand most of the lyrics--but the draw is the super catchy beats.

Can't really comment on Nicki Minaj or Cardi B's songs because I haven't heard them. I would suggest that people speak out a lot more. People won't know and improve if they aren't made aware of what they're doing wrong. Of course, people have been speaking out for years about the misogyny and N word use for years, to no avail.

Caliman73

(11,693 posts)
18. Racial animosity and stereotyping between marginalized groups is not new.
Wed May 23, 2018, 07:22 PM
May 2018

There have always been tensions between racial minority groups, misunderstanding, and straight up bigotry. Black people and Latinos have been fighting it out in Los Angeles for decades, along with Filipinos and Chinese.

The group who gets the most out of all the division?

White people.

With minority groups at each other's throats, there isn't the unity that is needed to turn attention on the group with the real power to oppress and dictate the terms of the game.

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