Why can't Asian acts breakthrough?

[migamiga 12,101]

It's very complicated and deep rooted. For starters, (speaking only about Asian Americans) Asian parents for the most part do not support or encourage their kids to become entertainers. It's not seen as a "real job" and the arts is looked at as a hobby. Obviously this isn't every Asian parents' outlook but for the most part it seems to be a common thread. Deciding to be an artist kind of feels like you're disappointing your parents and bringing shame to the family. They would much rather have you be a doctor or lawyer or something that would indicate wealth, status, stability. Maybe because most Asians that immigrated to this country were poor and dealt with racism and could only dream of being in the upper class (like most immigrants). Also Asian Americans are "new" to this country (the first wave arriving during the mid 1800s and then the 1960s, 70s for south/south East Asians) so we haven't exactly established our identity (outside our stereotypes) which leads me to my second point. In the media, Asians are always portrayed as the nerd, a s-xual fetish (Asian girls), complacent, foreigners, etc. These portrayals carry over into real life and people actually look at you in this light. It's very frustrating. So how can a record label or a production company market an Asian when these reputations proceed us? There are niche markets like kpop fans and martial arts fans. I saw that Bruce Lee was mentioned and that was actually a really important part in Asian American identity. He gave us all something to be proud of. My dad was a kid when he was at the height of his career and said people treated him and other Asians differently because of Bruce. A respect level was there that wasn't before. People were more afraid to pick on Asians because maybe they could fight like Bruce. And for my generation the equivalent would be Jackie chan. But again, not enough Asian Americans are in the public eye telling their stories. Our stories are being told for us and we continue to look like foreigners and people continue to view us all the same. I also saw Bruno being mentioned (who's half Filipino). There are actually a lot of Asian celebrities but they don't really talk about that side of themselves nor does the media (idk if that's intentional or not). Other celebs who have Asian blood- ne yo, kelis, Naomi Campbell, chad Michael Murray, Vanessa hudgens. Lastly, Asian Americans don't really have a community that supports one another. In my opinion I think it stems from being ashamed of being Asian. I work for an org that pushes for diversity in the media and we try to find new Asian talent but it's very hard to undo all the damage that has taken place. If you want me to be very honest, I sometimes feel like I'm viewed more as a character instead of a person because of my race. To this day I'm still not really proud of my race or culture and it makes me sad. 

Sorry this was so long and it's not even half of what I have to say but hopefully it can shed some light to those who don't understand some of these issues

[Serendipity 7,821]

5 minutes ago, F AM E said:

It's very complicated and deep rooted. For starters, (speaking only about Asian Americans) Asian parents for the most part do not support or encourage their kids to become entertainers. It's not seen as a "real job" and the arts is looked at as a hobby. Obviously this isn't every Asian parents' outlook but for the most part it seems to be a common thread. Deciding to be an artist kind of feels like you're disappointing your parents and bringing shame to the family. They would much rather have you be a doctor or lawyer or something that would indicate wealth, status, stability. Maybe because most Asians that immigrated to this country were poor and dealt with racism and could only dream of being in the upper class (like most immigrants). Also Asian Americans are "new" to this country (the first wave arriving during the mid 1800s and then the 1960s, 70s for south/south East Asians) so we haven't exactly established our identity (outside our stereotypes) which leads me to my second point. In the media, Asians are always portrayed as the nerd, a s-xual fetish (Asian girls), complacent, foreigners, etc. These portrayals carry over into real life and people actually look at you in this light. It's very frustrating. So how can a record label or a production company market an Asian when these reputations proceed us? There are niche markets like kpop fans and martial arts fans. I saw that Bruce Lee was mentioned and that was actually a really important part in Asian American identity. He gave us all something to be proud of. My dad was a kid when he was at the height of his career and said people treated him and other Asians differently because of Bruce. A respect level was there that wasn't before. People were more afraid to pick on Asians because maybe they could fight like Bruce. And for my generation the equivalent would be Jackie chan. But again, not enough Asian Americans are in the public eye telling their stories. Our stories are being told for us and we continue to look like foreigners and people continue to view us all the same. I also saw Bruno being mentioned (who's half Filipino). There are actually a lot of Asian celebrities but they don't really talk about that side of themselves nor does the media (idk if that's intentional or not). Other celebs who have Asian blood- ne yo, kelis, Naomi Campbell, chad Michael Murray, Vanessa hudgens. Lastly, Asian Americans don't really have a community that supports one another. In my opinion I think it stems from being ashamed of being Asian. I work for an org that pushes for diversity in the media and we try to find new Asian talent but it's very hard to undo all the damage that has taken place. If you want me to be very honest, I sometimes feel like I'm viewed more as a character instead of a person because of my race. To this day I'm still not really proud of my race or culture and it makes me sad. 

Sorry this was so long and it's not even half of what I have to say but hopefully it can shed some light to those who don't understand some of these issues

The ugly truth is so real and painful tbh

[BULATIO 1,635]

All the same, because of the national identity , culture and psychology. Asians ( Japanese, Chinese , Mongols , Koreans ... ) will be in the global music business only if accompanied by white or black people.

[VenusBlackStar 1,301]

19 minutes ago, F AM E said:

It's very complicated and deep rooted. For starters, (speaking only about Asian Americans) Asian parents for the most part do not support or encourage their kids to become entertainers. It's not seen as a "real job" and the arts is looked at as a hobby. Obviously this isn't every Asian parents' outlook but for the most part it seems to be a common thread. Deciding to be an artist kind of feels like you're disappointing your parents and bringing shame to the family. They would much rather have you be a doctor or lawyer or something that would indicate wealth, status, stability. Maybe because most Asians that immigrated to this country were poor and dealt with racism and could only dream of being in the upper class (like most immigrants). Also Asian Americans are "new" to this country (the first wave arriving during the mid 1800s and then the 1960s, 70s for south/south East Asians) so we haven't exactly established our identity (outside our stereotypes) which leads me to my second point. In the media, Asians are always portrayed as the nerd, a s-xual fetish (Asian girls), complacent, foreigners, etc. These portrayals carry over into real life and people actually look at you in this light. It's very frustrating. So how can a record label or a production company market an Asian when these reputations proceed us? There are niche markets like kpop fans and martial arts fans. I saw that Bruce Lee was mentioned and that was actually a really important part in Asian American identity. He gave us all something to be proud of. My dad was a kid when he was at the height of his career and said people treated him and other Asians differently because of Bruce. A respect level was there that wasn't before. People were more afraid to pick on Asians because maybe they could fight like Bruce. And for my generation the equivalent would be Jackie chan. But again, not enough Asian Americans are in the public eye telling their stories. Our stories are being told for us and we continue to look like foreigners and people continue to view us all the same. I also saw Bruno being mentioned (who's half Filipino). There are actually a lot of Asian celebrities but they don't really talk about that side of themselves nor does the media (idk if that's intentional or not). Other celebs who have Asian blood- ne yo, kelis, Naomi Campbell, chad Michael Murray, Vanessa hudgens. Lastly, Asian Americans don't really have a community that supports one another. In my opinion I think it stems from being ashamed of being Asian. I work for an org that pushes for diversity in the media and we try to find new Asian talent but it's very hard to undo all the damage that has taken place. If you want me to be very honest, I sometimes feel like I'm viewed more as a character instead of a person because of my race. To this day I'm still not really proud of my race or culture and it makes me sad. 

Sorry this was so long and it's not even half of what I have to say but hopefully it can shed some light to those who don't understand some of these issues

Thank you for posting this. I'm half-Filipino (but look more Indian or Latino to people cuz of my Euro features mixed in) but I still face a lot of ignorance toward Asian people, directed at me a lot of times. I have also wondered why there aren't big Asian stars the way there are big Latino stars and so on. I do agree that largely in the media Asian people, especially east Asian people, are perceived more as characters than as actual people a lot of times.

[StrawberryBlond 14,088]

Honestly, it comes down to two simple reasons:

1) A lot of Asian acts don't sing in English or only do one single in English in an attempt to launch themselves internationally (as if one single will do the trick).

This is especially true for the Eastern Asian ones. Even though plenty of them are proficient in English and some are even fluent, for some reason, they don't seem to want to release their songs in English to get foreign sales. Whether this is their decision or the label's decision is unclear. Maybe the label is worried that their Asian fanbase will abandon them for selling out or making songs in 2 languages constantly will be take up too much time and be too mentally exhausting. Or both. As far as I know, Girls Generation are fluent in English, so why have they still yet to release an English album?

2) Record labels don't try hard enough/at all to sell Asian acts to the Western market.

Whether this is down to racism is unclear. It's long been assumed that Asians are simply not marketable. But honestly, anything's marketable if you sell it right, even in countries that wouldn't traditionally accept this. I think this excuse is used by labels a lot to avoid spending the money it would take to fly these artists over to the West, put them up in hotels and suchlike marketing them over there. Because it might all be a waste if they'd don't take off. But that excuse is really unacceptable now when promotion has proved to be so lucrative in general. Once again, Girls Generation were rumoured to be planning an English album but nothing ever came of it and considering their ages, time is running out to appeal to the youth market. If you won't market them, they won't sell. You have to make the Western market aware that these acts exist because unless you keep up with the Asian music scene, you won't have a clue. So, you can't blame the public for not supporting them if they aren't even aware that they exist.

 

One thing I want to add is that so often, when non-English speaking acts make English songs, they're nearly always completely original...and so are their native language songs. There's no album that completely translates them one way or the other. Shakira is a prime example of that. I can understand Spanish but not fluently, so her work never fully translates. It's no wonder her Spanish albums don't sell in foreign markets - they're original works that are never translated into English. She sometimes puts Spanish versions of her English songs on her English albums but a whole album is what's needed. It's totally backwards. Why should certain speakers get songs that the rest of us don't? And that's what I think Asian acts will probably do - make original English language songs for foreign fans and original native language songs for local fans. Completely different works, never translated bar the singles. Don't understand this theory, never will.

[Cody Draco 2,531]

Far East Movement slayed the U.S. with Like a G6 and Rocketeer.

[holy scheisse 21,611]

Ariana Grande is not latina

[Peroxide 9,202]

I'll be the first Asian American popstar, bookmark me.