The new generation
Description
In Speak it Louder: Asian Americans Making Music, scholar Deborah Wong aims to address the intricacies surrounding the Asian American performer in hip hop in order to see "more Asian Americans make it in a system stacked against their presence."Asian Americans exist in an ill-defined space within the broad systems of the dominant culture, and creatives have turned to hip hop as a vehicle of expression and culture creation. Black Americans, specifically those in the 70s Bronx, NY, invented and expanded on hip hop culture and established it as a location for identity formation, political assertion, and self-empowerment. In order to understand how Asian Americans use the language of hip hop as a vehicle for expressing their experience, it is important to know the history of Asian American relegation and the tradition of Asian American self-determination. Asian and Asian American rappers Rich Brian and Awkwafina continue to build upon these nebulous histories and intersections in a way that creates a more unique image of Asian people and contributes to the expansion of a uniquely Asian American culture. By conducting a combination of historical, cultural, musical, and lyrical analysis, it is clear that Asian and Asian American artists use the language of hip hop as a Black American tradition in a pedagogical manner to assert their own agency and create Asian American culture on their own terms.