âI went to an event in Philly on Friday, November 19 at the Asian Arts Initiative, an Asian American âcommunity artsâ space, entitled âChanging the Face of the Game: Asian Americans in Hip-Hop.â I cannot pretend I didnât already know what I was getting myself into. The title of the event itself expresses a level of hostility to Black people â Since Black people are the current face of the game, and for whatever reason, that needs to be changed. But anyhow, I went, ready to see what was gonna go downâŠ
The Main Event
Oliver Wang, Asian American writer, cultural critic and graduate student at UC Berkeley (where he teaches courses on pop culture), the opening speaker and panel moderator, gave an opening talk about the historical presence of Asians in hip-hop. Mr. Wangâs research into the annals of hip-hop history unearthed an emcee (who claims to have cut a record before âRapperâs Delightâ) from the South Bronx, whom Wang declares as the âfirst Asian in hip-hop.â He then describes him as âhalf Filipino and half Black.â I couldnât help but wonder how this emcee identified himself and how he physically looked, and why his Blackness was now a footnote in Wangâs historical re-write. As Wang continued on, he painted hip-hop music and culture as this multi-culti âAmericanâ artform that everyoneâs had a hand in developing. By doing so, Wang very skillfully ignored the reality that Rap was in fact created by Black youth (and Latinos from the Caribbean â many of whom are also of African descent and certainly ghettoized as âBlackâ in the NYC socio-economic landscape) in the South Bronx (or in Queens, depending on whom you ask). Wang went on to say that the only reason why Asians were drawn to hip-hop was because of the music. He also said that âhip-hop is the most democratic music because it doesnât take the same skill as playing classical music.â
Wang then asked a follow-up question to the panelists. Uh-oh! The panel included spoken word duo Yellow Rage, DJ Phillie Blunt, Chops of the Mountain Brothers, a Cambodian-American rapper named Jim, and his friend, the lone Black panelist who is an MC from Philly. Borrowing from the hip-hop romantic comedy Brown Sugar, Wang asked each panelist to talk about when they âfirst fell in love with hip-hop.â All of the panelists, save the Black man, talked about hearing some rap song on the radio and falling in love, because it expressed âwho they wereâ and âtheir experience.â Jim admitted he grew up in the burbs and came to hip-hop out of his isolation. At least that was honest. Michelle, from Yellow Rage, anointed herself the hip-hop historian (or shall I shay griot?) for the evening. Making jokes about her age, Michelle reminded the audience to pay respect to hip-hopâs roots and remember âthe old school.â The panel was asked another question by Wang and then he opened the floor for questions from the audience.
After squirming in my third-row seat for the duration of the talk, I had my opportunity. Quickly raising my hand, I was passed the mic. My question/statement was: In all of the talk thus far, we have conveniently skirted around the issue of race. But letâs be real, when weâre talking about hip-hop and hip-hop culture, we mean Black people, which you de-emphasized and de-historicized in your intro talk, Mr Wang⊠Now, we know about the history of Black popular culture being appropriated and stolen by whites, as in the case of Blues, Jazz, and Rock & Roll. And now thereâs hip-hop, and since we live in this multi-racial state which still positions Blackness socio-economically and politically at the bottom, how does the presence of Asian Americans in hip-hop, this black cultural artform, look any different than that of white folks in Jazz, Blues, and Rock & Roll?
The jig was up. I was the rain that ended the parade (or shall I say charade?). The room quickly turned to palpable hostility and anger. Since they were already clearly pissed, I decided to throw out a follow-up question: Mr. Wang, you that Asian people in hip-hop just like the music, which I find hard to believe since hip-hop also came into prominence in the day and age of music video â where image and representation are as important (if not more) than the music itself. That being the case, what is it about Black people (and especially Black masculinity in the case of hip-hop), and what they represent to others, that is so attractive to other people, including non-white people of color?
The Body Slam
Well, that did it. They were mad as hell. I mean, how dare I bring up Black people and appropriation, as if Asians canât possibly appropriate Blackness in the same manner that white folks do! It couldnât be, not while Iâm in a standing-room only crowd of âconsciousâ Asian youth with locks and hair teased out (and often chemically treated) to look like afros!
Well, that panel couldnât get that mic around fast enough! Some of the responses were too asinine to even bother with a critique. But I will tackle the main points. The first to respond was the lone Black man on the panel. Responding to my second question, he spoke in a condescending, yet gentle tone (you know, âbrother to brotherâ) about us âbeing a soulful peopleâ and thatâs why everyone wants to get with our shit and how I should see it as a âcompliment.â Well, I am fine with you getting with it â on the radio or video or whatever â but does that mean you get to have it? Better yet, take it, and then use it against Black people to promote the image of us as intimidating and politically and culturally selfish? This is exactly the narrative that was used to promote Eminem and is being used now for Jin: both of them are framed as real âartistsâ and âlyricistsâ who stand dignified in the face of Black âreverse racismâ and hostility (watch 8 Mile, read much of the press written about Jinâs appearances on 106th & Park)âas if Nas, Bahamadia, or Andre 3000 & Big Boi arenât really artists but, as Black people are expected to do, just use âthe race cardâ to get ahead. And to treat Blacks as âsoulful peopleâ is the same as seeing us as primitives (with some genetic code programming us to gleefully wail and shout, shake and shimmy) who make this lovely music yet are too docile to be really intelligent, ingenious and artistic.
Several of the panelists at this event went on to critique commercial rap artists for being materialistic, etc. For example, after putting his arm on his Black friendâs shoulder and telling me that we need to ârecognize that Blacks are on the bottom,â Jim concluded by telling me that âitâs about class, not raceâ and how he tries his hardest to be âconscientious.â This is the same guy who earlier emphasized how capitalism diluted the politics of hip-hop without talking about Asian Americansâ role in the capitalist structure. Instead of dealing with this very important issue, the Asian-American panelists acted as if they were âmore realâ than Black commercial artists. So, because they get to be âundergroundâ (which loosely means someone without a record deal), they get to be ârealâ and âauthenticâ over Black artists who have been commercially successful. I have my own critiques of commercially successful Black hip-hop artists and their materialism, misogyny, violence and homophobia â which I have written and spoken about as wellâbut I was not about to give that over to some hostile non-Black people to use to make themselves more âdown.â
Michelle of Yellow Rage flat out screamed on me, in an effort, I guess, to âkeep it realâ with her duoâs namesake. Starting several of her sentences with the phrase, âYou need to acknowledgeâŠâ she went on an on about how she is sick of people (I guess Black people) saying that hip-hop is a Black thing. This Ph.D. candidate (who specializes in both Asian and African American Literature) went on to tell me that I need to âstop being so divisiveâ and âread my historyâ via the likes of cultural critics Tricia Rose and Nelson George so that I can learn and ultimately âacknowledgeâ that ânobody has a monopoly on culture.â
And least of all Black people. As the descendants of slaves, the property of others, nothing belongs to us. Everything we do, including hip-hop and spoken word, can be done by anyone else. And yet, Yellow Rage made a name for itself by critiquing appropriation of Asian culture by non-Asians, including Black people (specifically hip-hop artists). So, to the author of Ancestor Worship (a phrase generally referring to Black African traditional religious practice) and member of Asians Misbehavinâ (which appropriates the name from the Black musical revue of Fats Wallerâs music, Ainât Misbehavinâ), I say to you, Michelle, if Asians have certain cultural boundaries that need to be respected (e.g. Chinese/Japanese tattoos, chopsticks in the hair, etc.), then why does that not apply to Black people? Maybe this is something Michelle can ponder as she works on her dissertation called âUntying Tonguesâ (which appropriates the title of the late Black Gay filmmaker Marlon Riggâs work, Tongues Untied).â
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