Extra Credit Assignment

Ryan Takemiya’s presentation was not only engaging but informative as well. Rather than speaking just on Asian hip hop culture, which is what I was under the impression he was going to cover, he delved into the complex issue of how cultural and environmental differences have lead to differences in Asian hip hop versus American hip hop. A presentation filled with passion, wit, and an impeccable ability to relate to a college-aged audience, Ryan Takemiya’s talk was one of the most enjoyable I’ve been to all year.

Ryan’s talk opened with some music history. He made an interesting point: American hip hop focuses much more on the downbeat, while Asian hip hop focuses on the upbeat. He proceeded to play examples of each. What immediately came to my mind was why I hadn’t noticed this before. Is that why Asian hip hop sounds so different? It seems like such an obvious difference, but at the same time something that could easily go undetected.

The cultural differences he alluded to included the perception of appropriate rap content. I can see where he's coming from when he said that Asian hip hop artists face different repercussions than American hip hop artists. For example, rapping about women would be considered highly taboo in Asia, while here in America it is considered a social norm. Also, if someone in Asia were to go to jail, if ever released they would be immediately outcasted by their family, community, and face great difficulty in getting a job. According to Takemiya, jail is an end all be all, whereas here in America, it seems that glorifying jail time can boost our reputation. At least in the rap world, it seems that rappers can rap about jail, women, and crime without fear of being socially outcasted.

Despite these differences, Takemiya ended his talk encouraging each of us to contribute to revolutionizing Asian Americans in the media. Convinced that Asian American artists are just recently breaking into mainstream media, he again encouraged us to take advantage of the circumstances; opportunities exist for Asian Americans now like they never have before.