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The State of Asian-American Music
by Nelson Wong
While music sales overall were down for the industry in 2003, many
established Asian Americans continued to release albums. New releases from
Linkin Park, Hiroshima, Yo Yo Ma, A Perfect Circle, and others kept Asian
Americans in the spotlight.
2003 was the year extraordinary year for Asian American music. It was a
year that we got to hear new breakout artists. We'll focus on four of the
many artists to debut in 2003.
Jin Tha MC
In the world of rap music, 21 year old Jin Tha MC made a name for himself.
The Florida born son of Chinese parents who own a Chinese Restaurant decided
to move to New York to pursue music. It was a move that proved success as
Jin's year of notoriety was sparked by his record setting 7 consecutive wins
on BET's Freestyle Fridays, a rap contest against other rappers where
contestants have 30 seconds to rap lyrics at the spur of the moment. Jin's
record setting win led to his signing with Wyclef Jean's RuffRyder Records
and releasing a single on the "2 Fast 2 Furious" soundtrack. Look for Jin's
album to drop in March 2004 with his first single "Learn Chinese" which
incorporates Cantonese and English lyrics.
Natalise
Robin Natalise Chow or better known as singer/songwriter Natalise, 21,
became the next diva of dance music in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003
taking over the reigns from other Asian American dance music divas Jocelyn
Enriquez, Sharyn Maceren, and M:G. She debuted her vocal talents on the
compilation album "Import Jams" on 888 Records and followed up the success
of her single "Love Goes On" with a full album titled "Forever Now."
A Stanford graduate in communications, Natalise, garnered the cover story on
the Bay Area weekly newspaper SF Weekly and showed that her desire to become
a pop star was strong. Look for Natalise on "Import Jams 2" and her
sophomore album in mid-2004.
Harlemm Lee
16 years ago Asian American Gerry Woo of Detroit broke onto the music scene.
Woo managed to become a winner on the television talent show "Star Search"
and subsequently got a album deal with Polygram Records under their Polydor
label. The album, "Listen to My Heart Beat," was released in 1987 and had a
couple of hit singles with "Help Yourself," "How Long," and a remake of Ruby
and the Romantics' classic "Hey There Lonely Girl" (rose to #27 on
Billboard's R&B Chart in 1987).
Woo's music video for "How Long," completed on October 15, 1987, was aired
on the likes of MTV, BET, and Friday Night Videos and showed him singing on
a street corner, in the rain, waiting for a young African American woman to
meet up with him. At the time, it became obvious that Polydor was trying to
find a market fit for Gerry Woo so they attempted to reach the more urban
contemporary audience this way.
He was a performer on "Soul Train" and "Showtime at the Apollo." The
audience at the Apollo, notoriously tough on performers, could not believe
this Asian American young man could sing and dance. When he walked out on
to the stage you could hear the buzz of people stirring with the sort of
thinking, "oh no, this Asian kid comes into here and thinks he's gonna sing
here at the Apollo?" He turned it all around when he started singing and
then the audience started cheering crazily when he started dancing. He
finished performing "How Long" to a standing ovation, quite a feat for the
Apollo theatre audience.
Then he faded into oblivion. Or so we thought.
Flash forward to 2003 and a television reality show, "Fame" aired on NBC.
The show was looking for the "ultimate triple-threat" who could sing, dance,
and have the stage presence. Although four Asian Americans managed to make
the cut to the 24 contestants, only one, Harlemm Lee managed to get to the
final four and then ultimately win the competition after nationwide
telephone voting. Lee was Gerry Woo re-born in 2003. It was the ultimate
comeback for an Asian American performer.
Lee, a Chinese/Filipino American now 35, never gave up the hope to record
again. His album, "Introducing Harlemm Lee" (Wire Records), was released in
November to the delight of his devoted fans and first time listeners. Look
for more good things from Lee in 2004.
These were just a few of the artists introduced to us in 2003 that we should
keep an eye on in 2004. Perhaps they will inspire more new artists in 2004
as the state of Asian American music becomes increasingly more successful
and help the music industry come out of its slump.
Vienna Teng
Among the notable new Asian American artist to release an album last year,
Vienna Teng, made a strong debut. With an incredible grassroots support
effort which landed her an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman
and on CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown. The 26 year old singer,
songwriter, and pianist, gave up her software engineering career and signed
with Virt Records in late 2002. Her album "Waking Hour" was released
featuring 13 tracks entirely written by Teng.
Teng performed live on tour for over 140 days out of 365 in 2003. She set a
record for in-store CD sales at Border's bookstore in Bellvue, Washington
during a performance in September after setting a record in two other
Border's locations previously. 4 of the tour days were spent opening for
popular recording artist Shawn Colvin.
Teng's sophomore album is due to release this year.
Nelson Wong is the founder of AA Rising, www.aarising.com. It is considered THE Asian Pacific American Entertainment Resource.
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