Anna Kendrick joins K-Pop group F(x)

Anna Kendrick, the American actress from movies like Twilight and Up In The Air, has recently joined the K-Pop girl group F(x)...well sorta. Check out this short sketch I found on the website Funny Or Die where she tries out for F(x), learns the choreo and lyrics for Electric Shock as well. Now that is blog worthy. You know if there's one thing that'll get me back on the blogosphere its going to be K-Pop, my guilty pleasure.

Anna Kendrick goes K-Pop with F(x) from Anna Kendrick

Aziatix Signs With Cash Money Records

I caught the flu bug several days ago and have been immobile for several days now. So with that, I wanted to share this fantastic news which I will keep terse. The Asian American trio Aziatix has signed on with Cash Money Records. And Cash Money did they get. The group landed a $11.3 million deal with the label who has a slew of household rap artists such as Lil Wayne, Nicky Minaj and Drake.

For those of you who haven't heard any of their music, its pretty good. Check out this music video for their song "Go". Its a hot track.

This is a huge milestone for AA as it is one of the key indicators that America is beginning to except the fact that musicians aren't just black and white. After the proven popularity of Far East Movement, Cash Money has made a very lucrative investment in the AA group as they not only can they cater to an English speaking audience, but can also woo the hearts and minds of the Asian people. 

Funny how I was just paying homage to their founder Jae Chong who started his own Hip Hop/R&B group Solid. Chong, also their producer, probably went into this project looking specifically to find overlooked AA talent by regular A&R talent hunters. This can be inferred by this work with producing other Asian acts such as Coco Lee, Kim Gum Mo, Shin Seung Hoon, Stanley Huang, Nicky Lee and even JYJ for all you K-Pop lovers out there. And this is why it is so important for AA to have community so we can bond with one another and network to advance ourselves in society, to be a better AA and demonstrate to the world that we are multidimensional and multitalented individuals.

You can read up more on Aziatix here. 

Kevin Tsujihara, The 1st Asian American To Run A Major Hollywood Studio

Okay, I'm late to the party on this one, but I had to blog about it regardless since it is a Jeremy Lin like watershed moment for Asian Americans. Kevin Tsujihara will become the first Asian American ever to be CEO of Warner Bros, let alone any major Hollywood studio and will be replacing Barry Meyer who has held the position for almost 14 years. According to the LA Times, Meyer had some kind words to say about Tsujihara,

"Everyone needs a leader, and Kevin was the person best equipped to unify the company at this time," Meyer said in an interview. "We just thought he was the best choice for the whole company...It was about the person and the character of the person," Meyer said. "The digital transition is one that is happening and it is affecting every part of our company. Kevin has really been at the forefront of that, and leading that charge, but Warner Bros. is really about the products that it makes."

I hope this means that more Asian Americans will finally have a fair shot at the big screen devoid of tokenized stereotypical Asian characters.

WongFu Reminds Us Why It's So Important To Approach A Girl In Under 3 Seconds

Have you ever heard of the 3 second rule when it comes to approaching a woman you're interested in? For those of you who haven't, the rule is basically this. If you notice a girl you find attractive and want to talk to, you should do it in under 3 seconds the moment you see her. As WongFu Productions little short "This is how we never met" illustrates, the longer you wait to think of something to say before you just go up and talk to her, the more likely it is that you won't do it.

Check Out Jeannie Lin, The Award Winning Author Of Historical Romance

If you've been a D2R reader for the last few years you might recall a blog I wrote up on how Asian men even get shafted in literature due to the dearth of authors who portray them as the romantic lead or better yet, don't even get included in the storyline at all. It even stirred up quite a ruckus on YOMYOMF. Look, I know what you're thinking,

"But MaSir, what about The Joy Luck Club? Obviously, there's irrefutably no better book out there at describing what a wonderful experience it is to date an Asian male besides that one." 

You are absolutely right! Amy Tan did her best to make Asian men look incredibly awesome, romantic and financially generous. After its release, Asian Americans from all over the world hail and swear by that novel as the most accurate depiction of AA men.

However, I still wasn't satisfied and thought to myself, "There has to be a female author who knows how to write a different kind of Asian love story." You know...where the Asian guy actually gets the girl...like how it is in the real-world. Searching high and low I was fortunate enough to find Jeannie Lin, a writer of historical romance novels set in ancient China. (And no, her stories do not parallel The Last Samurai if you know what I mean.) American entertainment, literature included, retells the same propagandizing love story. Jeannie, however, is different in that her stories center around the Asian male as an actual love interest, unlike what I call the BLS*. 

*Bruce Lee Syndrome (BLS) - Asian male protagonist kicks the shit out of a thousand men, but never gets the girl or is deemed as an asexual creature. 

Thus, I decided to sit down with Lin for a one-on-one interview and learn more about her and her work. You can check out Jeannie Lin's website here.

MaSir: Tell us about yourself. Let's start off with a "Jeannie Lin" boilerplate introduction.

Jeannie:  I'm Jeannie. I write historical romances set in Tang Dynasty China. Surprisingly, my background is actually in cognitive science and education. I'm a techie by day and writer by night.

MaSir:  By any chance, are you related to Jeremy Lin?

Jeannie:  Heheh...no relation. I do occasionally refer to him as cousin Jeremy as a joke online. No relation to Justin Lin either....

MaSir:  Damn it. Okay. Interview's over...

Just kidding. So when did you start writing? And when did you officially become "Jeannie Lin" the author?

Jeannie:  I started writing around 2005. I was still teaching and looking for something to do as a hobby to balance things out. I took a class on romance writing and at first it was just something non-teaching to do on weekends, but the more I invested in the story, the more I realized I had always wanted to publish a story, so I committed to going for it. It took about four years of writing before I got noticed and received my first writing contract.

MaSir:  Do your parents know that you're a romance novel writer?

Jeannie:  Ha, they do! 

MaSir:  What are their opinions of it? I know Asian parents are so particular about their children pursuing STEM related careers but it looks like you already have that so maybe they don't mind so much?

Jeannie:  My mother is quite proud and actually sent my first book to a major Vietnamese paper because she knew the editor. (She publishes poetry under a pseudonym). My father requested a copy of my books -- just to have as a souvenir I'm sure -- so I may be the only romance author who has shipped their books to a Buddhist monastery. He's not a monk, he was just rooming at a monastery. 

Writing is my side job. My parents are very practical people and I'm no different. I'd starve if I tried to feed myself on writing money alone. I have a day job that pays the bills. [Just a side note] A lot of the shame that comes with writing romance or genre-fiction comes from how you feel yourself. I've never been ashamed and everyone I know, family and friends, have always been positive.

MaSir:  I actually stumbled upon your website after a blog that I had written up about the lack of AA female authors writing stories with Asian males as love interests and romantic leads. I was pleasantly surprised that there was someone representing for the Asian male race. What prompted you to stay within your ethnicity and not go off following the typical WM/AF love story that is so mainstream and overdone?

Jeremy Lin - Asian American Male Of The Year

It's about that time again where we start anew, but before we do, I want to give an Asian American Male of the Year award to the one and only Jeremy Lin. What Lin accomplished this year alone is truly remarkable. To go from being an NBA player who nobody had really heard of outside of the Asian community before his breakout game against the Nets, to a megastar athlete in a span of a few months calls for a resounding applause.

Far too long have Asian American men had been desperately seeking an Asian male role model to look up to outside the relic of Bruce Lee, though an unadulterated actor, fighter, philosopher and legend by anyones standards, Lin on the other hand has graced the front pages of major newspapers, magazines, mainstream media and entertainment outlets. Most Asian American parents that I knew of growing up didn't encourage their children to go into professional sports. The main focus has always been studying, which isn't a always a bad thing, but Lin achieved more than that. As a Harvard graduate, Lin not only turned the conventional wisdom surrounding Asian American men on its head, that of course being strictly academic, un-athletic and feeble, but also made up for the lost time and painful setback by the American idol reject William Hung.

"A Leading Man" Depicts The Asian Male Actors Struggle In Hollywood

Its no surprise that Asian American actors have struggled to receive acceptance from the mainstream audience in America, let alone obtain leading roles in Hollywood films. And if you compare the hardships that Asian American males have to endure to break into the entertainment industry compared to females, its arguably even harder. As reported by Meniscus Magazine, Steven J. Kung decided to do something about this particular systemic issue by writing and directing the film "A Leading Man", which explores the harsh realities and setbacks when confronted with Hollywood's "quiet racism".

Courtesy of Meniscus Magazine

I don't know much about Steven Kung, but I applaud his gallant efforts in producing a film that challenges the very system that he is a part of and also pays his bills. When asked how he came up with the idea for the script, Steve answered verbatim what many Asian Americans have been contesting all along.

”I originally came to Hollywood because I was sick of seeing Asian men in particular emasculated in front of the camera...No one was making the films that would portray Asian American men in a more well-rounded way. I'm 35 now and this still hasn't come so I'm like, you know, things aren't entirely socially equal, and let's make a film about that.”

Now the lead actor Jack Yang is a good looking guy. He sort of reminds me of the Batman animated version of Bruce Wayne with longer hair. Although that says absolutely nothing about his acting abilities, if he actually has the talent and is getting rejected left and right from Hollywood casting directors consistently then it's obvious that what he's experiencing parallels the "soft bigotry of low expectations" that plagued Jeremy Lin. In other words, he's a benchwarmer, a 3rd string, B-Movie actor. You can see from his portfolio on IMDB Yang's been in a quite a few Hollywood films and TV series, but rarely, if ever, as the leading male character.

The Next Big Asian Comedian: Zhangster

For some of you who already know of the Zhangster, call me a late arrival to the party but I just stumbled upon his clips on YouTube. He's a Chinese American straight out of the Bay Area, San Francisco to be exact. Hands down he's one of the funniest Asian American male comedians I've seen in a while. His jokes are pretty clever and he's really quick with the comebacks.

Zhangster going off on the UCLA Wallace's racist rant against Asians.

Red Dawn Encourages More Asian Racism And Threat Construction

OMFG. Here we go again. As if the barrage of racist tweets against Psy for performing at the AMAs weren't enough, Hollywood coincidentally, had to add fuel to the fire by releasing an offensive, vociferous movie where an exclusive group of white American teenagers, the Wolverines, counterattack the North Koreans who invade my homeland, not North Korea, but the United States of America. I was going to let this story fall by the wayside, but I encountered too much of this kind of bullshit throughout my life to just sit here and let these ignorant assholes degrade what my country stands for.

I get it. Many of these tweeters are adolescents or young adults, immature and still learning what it means not to be ignorant. Nevertheless, one would think that the collective consciousness of the American youth has continued along its evolutionary tragectory and not regressed to this pre-Civil Rights or Civil War era.

Ah yes. Brings back memories of growing up Asian in the U.S.

Someone will incessantly argue, "Its just a movie. Its fictitious. Get over it."

Really?

True Or False: Asians Want To Be White

This YouTube rant speaks on behalf of many Asian Americans, myself included, and I'm glad she set the record straight for anyone out there who thinks that all Asians want to be "white". Its simply not true. Why do people assume that just because Asians, Koreans especially, get some facial plastic surgery that its because they want to mirror the white physical features. C'mon really? Asians - minus the self-loathing embarrassments like this one - care more about their aesthetic appeal irrespective of race.

Look, there are beautiful people of all races. I believe women are less likely to agree with me on this topic, but the fact of the matter is every ethnicity has its subset of beautiful people. Does it mean you're necessarily attracted to them? No, but you can't deny a person who's beautiful. So to assume that Asians who get plastic surgery, wear colored contacts or dye their hair color do it to intentionally be "white" instead of simply enhancing their looks is not only reductive, but also an implicit self-concession on your part that being white is the de facto standard of beauty. 

That, in and of itself, is a false assertion. Asians want to look beautiful just like any other goddamn human being or creature on this planet. Race is irrelevant.

I don't know about you but I've seen plenty of ugly white people. Plenty. I have also seen plenty of ugly Latinos, Blacks and Asians. And for the ones that are good-looking, guess what? They all share similar characteristics of beauty. Beauty has no racial preference. These are physical characteristics that are borderless, timeless and vary depending on the era. No race is biologically predisposed of looking more beautiful over another. That is not reality. That is however, the unfortunate perception of reality due to the influence of the mass media. For instance, let's compare and contrast how American and Asian entertainment portrays Asian males (I'm feeling positive that Hollywood is finally getting their act together or they'll just yellowface the shit out of us).

Han Lee (Actor: Mathew Moy) from 2 Broke Girls

Vs.

Tae-Shik (Actor: Won Bin) from The Man From Nowhere

Get my drift?

Psy Called Racial Slurs Post AMAs On Twitter

My last two blogs covered how ignoring Asians is no longer an option given the changing landscape of the world economy and the socioeconomic rise of Asians in America and back East. The Far East. Unfortunately, there are those individuals filled with hate who make themselves feel better by letting the world know that they don't like "chinks" and wish for us to "go back to Asia". At least that's what these Twitter users said after Psy's performance on the American Music Awards courtesy of Public Shaming's tumblr.

Now I haven't been completely onboard with the K-Popstar's claim to fame, but that's not to say I won't give him props for his accomplishments. I respect him as an artist and think he does have real talent. It took Justin Bieber 4 years to amass 800 million views on YouTube whereas Psy has almost achieved the same view count in about 4 months. That's pretty impressive.

I get that Psy is not American and he was singing a song that wasn't in English which may have made some folks feel alienated, however he did close the show with MC Hammer who is 100% American. This duet is a reflection of America's changing cultural landscape in that we're becoming more of a melting pot. Dude, we have a Black president! But what also pisses me off is the fact that countries all over the Asia-Pacific have been open arms embracing American music for nearly a century. Korea especially. There's not a single night club you can go into without listening to American music and its been that way for generations. It's like what Swizz Beats said when he referred to Big Bang's release of Blue. America never rolls out the red carpet for Asian artists, and yet when American artists go overseas to Asia, countries over in the region show them all kinds of love rolling out the red carpet, inviting them on talk shows, having them perform, etc. etc. I'm glad to see we're moving forward.

Why can't these Tweeters above embrace Asian artists the same way? I grew up feeling alienated many times simply because I wasn't white. It made me feel like a permanent outsider hearing these kinds of hateful remarks and it pains me to see this sentiment is still pervasive in America today. Its 2012!!

Look, if you want to get really anal about it, none of Scooter Braun's artists' are American proper. One Direction gets plenty of mainstream airplay and they're a British boy band. Yes, they do sing in English, but that doesn't make them anymore American than Psy. And if we're strictly speaking of the United States of America, well both Justin Bieber and Carly Jae Repsen are not US Citizens so maybe they shouldn't be at the AMAs either. And while I'm at it, maybe we shouldn't have Shakira on any of our American TV shows too since, you know, she's from Latin America which isn't America proper.

Perhaps Psy should've sang an English version of Gangnam Style at the AMAs? Maybe, but it doesn't make sense. Gangnam Style is about a district in Seoul, Korea not America and there's really no American city center that parallels the same shallow and arrogant 'tudes as that particular geographic location. Psy created this song for his home country, not the American market. It just so happens Psy stumbled onto fame when the rest of the world fell in love with its high-energy, infectious beat. Don't blame Psy or the AMAs.

Another surprising tidbit. Most of the anti-Psy tweets came from women of the caucasian variety. Granted, this is only a sample of the entire universe of tweets, negative and positive, but never would I have expected that much of a backlash to having Psy on the AMAs. In fact, after scouring the Twitter feeds, I see more guys all around giving Psy props! Well look at it this way. If President Obama got all kinds of flack on Twitter for being Black and re-elected, then no doubt that the same bunch will probably post a racial slur about Psy.

Moving on...

Ignoring Asians Is No Longer An Option

For the longest time I have felt that Asian American voices have been ignored or simply drowned out by the cheers and jeers of non-Asian audiences, but this past 2012 election and the changing landscape of the world economy should serve as a wake up call to everyone that Asian Americans are no longer the silent minority.

In fact, Asian Pacific Americans pulled off the most historic wins in politics growing their clout in the US. And what about our social standing relative to the world economy? Well for one thing, my displeasure for Cloud Atlas's yellowface of Asian men probably isn't held in solitude, and I'll bet the collective outrage has adversely impacted their box office sales worldwide.

According to IMDB as of November 2012, Warner Bros raked in merely $18 million, roughly $82 million short of their initial investment in the film. I'm glad the film tanked and I think a substantial number of Americans, regardless of their ethnic background, are fed up with Hollywood's perpetual promotion of white heroines against the backdrop of other ethnicities, and they're speaking up about it, not just with their voices, but also their wallets. Looks like the executives over at the film studios didn't get the memo that its a bad idea to alienate the entire Asian male population.

James Cameron, the director of mega blockbuster Avatar, is as shrewd with business as he is talented behind the camera. Word has it Cameron is working on the incorporating Chinese Na'vi into an Avatar sequel.

“Within five years, China could easily be as big a gross-revenue market for film as North America, and there are very specific economic incentives for having both Chinese content and Chinese co-production."

I'll make another bet that Cameron is intelligent enough to include Chinese characters with equal or ample screen time as their white or blue counterparts. Unless he has no qualms about pissing off the largest country in the world that owns a huge chunk of our national debt, I doubt he'll portray these Chinese Na'vi as strictly antagonists.

Yellowface In Hollywood. The Saga Continues.

Here we go again. Hollywood's perpetual yellowface in blockbuster films continues. Never mind that Hollywood repeatedly fails to deliver brilliant performances based on popular selling novels and video games, Cloud Atlas is yet another forgone opportunity for an Asian American MALE actor to shatter antiquated stereotypes and finally play a role that reflects reality. I don't know about you, but all of my Asian American guy friends aren't comic reliefs, hanging from wires, demonstrating martial arts or speaking with thick Chinese accents. Warner Bros. could have easily chosen an Asian or Asian American male actor to reflect the times. Instead, Hollywood's predisposition to choose white actors in yellowface was sufficient just like they did with The Last Airbender, 21, Dragonball-Z, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Kung Fu...

"Asian men are not allowed to get intimate with beautiful women on screen." -Behind closed doors 

The movie is based on the novel, Cloud Atlas, which consists of six nested stories interwoven from the perspective of the main character of each subsequent story. One of those stories takes place in a futuristic Korea where actress Doona Bae plays Sonmi's character next to her white cast mate Jim Sturgess, you know, the same guy who played the lead role, originally an Asian from MIT in 21.

Actor & Comedian Randall Park Does It In The Sandbox

Korean American actor and comical genius Randall Park does it again. I've blogged about his creative funny works before in the Dr. Miracles mini series. This time around he's put together a funny short about playing in the sandbox as a minority outcast only to impart a comparable kind of racist behavior against his new found friend. Check it out!

Was Melo Hatin' On Yellow? A Look At Jeremy Lin's Departure From NYC

Jeremy Lin's back in action being on the front cover of zines. Only this time, it's not for ESPN or Sports Illustrated but for the gentlemans' magazine, GQ, their November 2012 issue. The published article covers a candid interview with Jeremy Lin and his rise from being a no name D-League player to becoming a household name in America.

Much of the interview discusses what happened with him during the Knicks advocated "test the market" period that eventually lead to Lin's departure for Houston, one that he was not anticipating. It was only after the New York franchise failed to match Houston's generous offer of $25 million after three seasons with the team that Lin decided to take off like a Rocket. Pun intended. The team who he thought embraced him really didn't. 

I had a hunch after Melo returned from his groin injury that the two could not co-exist and execute as a winning team as they had been with Linsanity running the show. In fact, I believe Melo was the reason why the Knicks game suffered after he returned and also the reason for coach Mike D'Antoni and finally Lin's departure. This is just my opinion. Cry foul all you want, but it wasn't just me who believed this. ESPN released an article that aligns with my suspicion. Here's what I mean, 

"Lin was getting what Carmelo was promised," says a source close to the team. "And Carmelo thought D'Antoni was going to favor Jeremy, so he had to get D'Antoni out of there.

"It works out perfect for Carmelo. There's little if any of his DNA on there."

I also found it odd how Melo, given his professional stature, would denounce his teammates newfound glory contract of $25 million by saying it was "ridiculous" when he was supposedly very supportive of Lin. It's just not professional to do period, but here's where it gets even more interesting. An unnamed source close to the Knicks speaks of Melo saying,

"He needs to be around someone who is feared, someone who could tell him what to do. He just couldn't see Jeremy Lin that way. He could see Kobe and LeBron that way in the Olympics, sure, but not Jeremy Lin. Carmelo's whole thing is perception."

I've witnessed this occurrence in the business world frequently as well. Thankfully, there are a number of Indians who are leveraging their ethnic community to network and rise above the ranks and create their own destiny. Still, there is this unspoken perception that Asian Americans are not meant to be leaders or alphas where non-Asians just can't see Asian Americans in leadership roles (see Paper Tigers).

I hope Jeremy Lin has an even better year in Houston taking the team all the way to the finals and helps turn that preconceived notion on its head. In the meantime, I hope to do my part to change this perception too.

With Every Psy Comes Another *Sigh*

As I sit here typing this, I open up another tab on my browser and search for "Gangnam Style" on YouTube, curious to see how many more views Psy has accumulated since yesterday. Psy has garnered over 510 million views on YouTube and captivated the world with its crazy horse riding maneuvers making appearances on The Today Show, Ellen, VMA music awards, etc. Thank you America for being so openminded to embrace someone like Psy to run the US airwaves even if it does end up being a flash in the pan. Strangely enough, with all of the fame and fortune that coattails with Psy comes another *sigh*. 

Whether you like the song or not, you have to give it up to the guy for cracking the American market and becoming a cultural icon in less than a month. Psy's comical infectious horse riding dance is too hard to resist and not laugh at, which is where the controversy around the "Gangnam Style" begins. When will America embrace Asian males as sex symbols for the female population and not just as comic reliefs?

As happy as I am for Psy cracking the US market, my whole contention and consternation with his current popularity status is the mere fact that he's all satire, not sex or sizzle. Don't get me wrong. Psy is an entertaining and respectable guy in Korea, but his onstage goofy, flamboyant persona reinforces a long-lived stereotype where ethnic male minorities are constantly being made a mockery of having to be laughed at or laughed with (as if this is any better). It isn't as if he's viewed any differently by the Korean population, but the irrefutable difference is, in Psy's homeland of Korea, there are other Korean male celebrities who do serve as bona fide sex symbols for the female audience.

There were several blogs that I read recently which compelled me to write about this. The first is from Psy And The Acceptable Asian Man, on Racialicious. The author does a fantastic job summarizing all of the moments in American entertainment history where the Asian male leads did not get the girl, and were once again pigeonholed into stereotypical roles: the asexual martial artist, the clown, the geek, the villain. And yes, I made a premature prognostication that K-Pop boy band Big Bang would dominate the world music scene before Psy would take the world by storm, because as the author of the blog argues,

...the potential threat of Asian male sexuality is clearly not and, therefore, for heterosexual Asian and Asian American men to see mainstream success, it genuinely helps not only to fit one of the pre-ordained acceptable Asian male roles (nerd, martial artist, gangster, and clown), but also to avoid any positive displays of sexuality and presenting yourself in a manner that can be seen as desirable to heterosexual women.

Then again, it's not just Asians who've had to struggle with this type of systemic racism issued by the white-dominated mainstream media and entertainment. Blacks have dealt with this for generations being typecast as comics and still do to a certain extent unless your name is Will Smith or Denzel Washington. See Spin's response in the bottom Comments section of this article.

This mentality transcends the realm of entertainment by bleeding into the mindset of, sadly, too many non-Asian males. Ben Efsaneyim writes about his discovery of INP's blog who describes in great detail her dating experience as an expat in Korea, and the unfortunate flack she receives from Western males for dating the locals. Wow! You want to be envious and discriminatory in your country, that's one thing, but to go to a foreign land by where the males of that country rule and roam, and to behave the same envious racist way is absolutely asinine. See Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch douchbaggery here.

Thus, I'm not surprised why Tiger JK would go on a rampage like he did the other day chewing out those stupid foreign white hecklers for rudely interrupting his performance on stage when he was spittin'. Some say Tiger JK's response was akin to Michael Richards, AKA Kramer, when he went on a diatribe calling black people the n-word repeatedly. Nothing could be further from the truth! First off, Tiger JK is not a comic, he's a raw emcee. Tiger JK grew up around Los Angeles, CA as an Asian-American and most likely encountered all kinds of racism for his ethnicity during his youth when humans are probably the most psychologically vulnerable. Second, never mind that the hecklers were being disruptive and disrespectful to begin with, but their comments were fueled by racism. Had the hecklers yelled out cries of generic "boos" only, then by all means, Tiger JK should be found guilty, but that was not the case. They provoked him with racially motivated heckling. Amy argues this perfectly in her Seoulbeats article (yes, I'll assume Amy is female),

The burden of being on the receiving end of racism — whether obvious or invisible — is not something that is negated because he cursed out a couple of white hecklers and then went on to curse a group of people (“white boys”) and a system (Hollywood). These people and that system are at fault for creating an image and upholding racist beliefs that give those white hecklers the idea that they are entitled to demand the horse dance from Tiger JK. It is because of those white hecklers’ white privilege that they think they have the right to repeatedly interrupt JK’s set, that he stop what he’s doing to do the horse dance.

Tiger JK, who has nothing to do with Psy, who has nothing to do with “Gangnam Style,” who has nothing to do with anything related to this phenomenon, other than the sole fact that he is Asian like Psy is Asian. And in the minds of those hecklers, JK and Psy are probably interchangeable because of they are both Asian, and that is racist. They probably didn’t have any intention of acting like racists, but just the act of expecting certain things from JK because he is X like Psy is X, or conflating the two, is racist. People of color have to deal with these subtle acts of racism in disgusting frequency because the actions of people who happen to be their race are equalized as being the actions of entire races.

I applaud Tiger JK for standing up for himself, and all Asian males for that matter, who are sick and tired of being plagued by the same, ongoing Asian stereotypes popularized by similar racist "white boys". I also applaud Amy for standing up for the Asian community coming to Tiger JK's defense. Try to argue against Tiger JK all you want for lashing out, but from my understanding of the situation there weren't any Koreans in the audience who were crying out to Tiger JK, "Do the horse-riding dance!" Just like I don't go to a NaS concert and yell out, "Teach me how to dougie!" when he's is about to rip the mic, they shouldn't have either, because the two are completely independent individuals and musical genres.

I was bit irritated by the whirlwind of news around Psy recently, but now that I've put it down on paper electronically, I'm also pretty happy, because Asian and Asian American males are viewed as a threat to the hegemonic power structure. This is flattering to be quite honest. In spite of all of this negativity, I shouldn't forget the progress Asian and Asian-American males have made within the last decade. I guess my sigh can now be one filled with more relief.

• Jeremy Lin, NBA and The Rockets
• Steven Yeun, The Walking Dead
• Tim Kang, The Mentalist
• Far East Movement, Cherry Hill Records
• Daniel Dae Kim, Hawaii Five-0
• Yul Kwon, Survivor
• Eliot Chang, Comedian (and gets the ladies)
• BIGBANG, See my previous blog posts on the K-Pop group
• Justin Lin, Powerhouse Hollywood Director
• Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com
• Asian Playboy, ABC's of Attraction

Shall I keep going?

A Different Kind of Asian-American Band

I'm not one to listen to this genre of music, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize talent when I see it, and this band definitely has it. They're called Monsters Calling Home. Now that I've grown so accustomed to seeing Asians make R&B, dance and ballad tunes, discovering a new type of sound coming from a group of Asian artists is incredibly refreshing.

Honda chose them recently to be in one of their commercials since they filmed their single "Fight to Keep" in their Hondas. Pretty creative and original if you ask me. 

Steven Yeun On Conan

First time I saw Steven Yeun it was on YouTube a couple of years ago where he played this Asian-American male character out in Chicago. He's in this scene with his buddy buying some BYC Korean underwear explaining the importance of it in order to get the ladies. I tried searching for it on YouTube again, but came up unsuccessful.

Who would've thought that same guy wind up on becoming part of one of the most popular shows in America as Glenn on The Walking Dead? Great to see a regular, English speaking Asian-American male coming on a late night talkshow like Conan. 

K-Pop Group BIG BANG Will Dominate World Music

This next blog is dedicated to BIG BANG. The other Asian male group putting all Asian males on the map. The rising popularity of BIG BANG is unprecedented. They just made a massive jump on the Billboard Social 50 charts moving up from 36 to 12 in one week. Amazing. Check out one of my favorite videos they released not too long ago called Bad Boy.

Every one of you should check out BIG BANG. This K-Pop group consists of five raw, unadulterated talented artists. Seriously. I'm not just saying this, because I'm biased.  I'm saying this because these guys have more style and flavor than many of the artists here in the states *ahem*...Bieber. You know the streets are talkin' when even Swizz Beats talks about wanting to work with the group.

You can argue with me all you want how K-Pop sounds manufactured, well guess what? What about all the crap that's been coming out on the radio for the past decade? Bitches, hoes, clubbing, cars, money. Yes. Great. What else? I'm not saying all radio music is bad, nor am I saying even that kind of music is bad, but let's not pretend like America is Oh-So-Original when it clearly isn't.

What I like about BIG BANG is that they serve as a good role model for Asian-American males. "But they're not even American", you say. It doesn't matter. They bring a fresh, new Asian male image to the forefront of people's minds which is what I'm trying to get at. In addition, they're very hard-working, masculine, stylish, creative, pump out great music and rock it with uncontested swagger. Most importantly, they capture the hearts of the ladies, and who wouldn't want to emulate any of those characteristics? I saw an ad online for their new Monster video on YouTube and stumbled across all these "Reaction Videos". I had no idea they had such a far-reaching fan-base non-Asian fanbase. It's pretty freakin' nuts. Who would've thought that a boy band from Asia would make girls worldwide squeal like this?

K-Town Reality TV Show to Air on YouTube

Finally. Some atypical shit on Asian-Americans. Yes, Asians are alpha, assholes and all about partying. K-Town shows you a glimpse into Asian-American nightlife partying. I was at Bellasco the night they were filming. Hope they didn't get my ass on camera! LOL