Head in the Clouds: Asian-American Music!

When you think of Asian American media, what do you think of? Tear-jerking films about fathers reconnecting with their heritage? Books that detail an immigrant girl slowly coming to terms with the way she looks? Or do you imagine the short non-fiction stories that reminisce on Asian American writers’ times at school?

You most likely didn’t think of Asian American music. Sure, there’s Asian music, like folkloric songs or even the rising wave of K-pop; and there’s also American music that consists of and dominates the hip-hop industry, pop music, R&B, jazz, and more. Yet, what is Asian American music? To answer that question, I’m not even sure myself. Any song by an Asian American musician is technically “Asian American music,” but those songs don’t always connect or find inspiration from the artist’s cultural experiences. Conversely, there are songs that go into specific detail about what it’s like to be Asian American in a predominantly white society (think “Strawberry Blonde” or “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski). Then, there are also Asian American musicians who don’t connect their music to their experiences but pride themselves in “paving the way” for Asian artists in a specific genre. All these types can be deemed “Asian American music,” and I think this diversity makes it so interesting.

However, even with this trivial struggle to define Asian American music, 88Rising kind of defines it for us. 88Rising is an American music company founded by Sean Miyashiro with the intent of creating a space/company dedicated to Asian talent. The company name, 88Rising, comes from the Chinese belief that 88 is a lucky number since it sounds like “double happiness” in Chinese, and they have worked to create spaces for pan-Asian bands, singers, duos, and more. While 88Rising is not exclusive to Asian Americans (especially since a lot of its artists are based in Asia), a lot of its artists are the face of Asian American music (ex. Joji, Rich Brian, etc). And what better way to start this deep dive into Asian American music than to start with 88Rising’s first compilation album, Head in the Clouds?

In May of 2018, 88Rising announced a music festival, “Head in the Clouds,” and to accompany this event, on July 18, 2018, the album Head in the Clouds dropped. Featured on this album are musicians like Niki, Rich Brian, Phum Viphurit, Higher Brothers, and so many more, and they all collaborated with each other to create this large collection of 17 masterpieces. My personal favorite song is “Poolside Manor,” a song sung by Niki and August 08; however, the most famous one is definitely the RIAA-certified Gold Record, “Midsummer Madness.” In some ways, this album and 88Rising are not representative of the Asian American experience since most songs don’t revolve themselves around that topic, but at the same time, the fact that it highlights Asian music, Asian artists, and pays homage to Asian culture in some aspects, makes it the epitome of Asian American music. When Head in the Clouds came out in 2018, the album forced its audience to recognize Asian musicians in ways that haven’t happened before, in this one, big, collective package of talent.

Of course, you don’t need to be Asian American to force people to recognize Asian talent: look at BTS! A 100% Korean boy band that has made headlines and broken countless records the past few years. So that poses this broad question of, if there’s Asian music, why does Asian American music need to exist too? Why is it important? Obviously, I know there are countless responses to this question, but I’d like to hear your answer in the comments!

Personally, I believe that the general Asian experience is so vastly different from the Asian American one, and this difference gives way to the genre of Asian American music. As mentioned previously, songs like Mitski’s can be written in ways that parallel the emotional execution in movies. But more than just that, I think being Asian American as opposed to Asian opens doors to new ways of expressing creativity. For example, going back to Head in the Clouds, there are moments when the musicians switch back and fourth between their ethnic tongue and English; something that sure, Asian artists can do, but Asian American artists honestly own. Not only that, but Asian American artists are typically more exposed to Western songs and the history behind certain American genres (e.g. the Black influence behind jazz, hip-hop, and R&B), and this understanding means they can create songs that respectfully pay homage to that history while also creating songs that they can call their own.

To end this article, I acknowledge just how broad the topic of Asian American music is in comparison to my past pieces, where I only focused on one book, movie, or short story. However, I wanted to use this article and this long album as a beginner-friendly entry to future Asian American music-related articles where we can dive deeper into a specific song or artist! Finally, 100% recommend giving the album a listen, as well as 88Rising artists in general! If you already have listened to it, give it another go because I learn to appreciate something new about the album every time :)