APAHM - PLAYLIST BY JIWON LEE

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Hdt7alMsE30OGyvY96YhJ?si=NevmO3lqSsek1KnidIQbyw

The artists in the playlist come from a whole variety of backgrounds.

We start out with some bops from NYC-based Korean American DJ, Yaeji, and an underground Korean American rapper, Uzuhan. While both are born and raised in the States, a quarter of their songs are in Korean.

Then we move onto some 88rising artists — 88rising being, of course, one of the hottest Asian labels today. Even within 88rising, the artists come from all over the globe: Joji (previously known as Pink Guy on Youtube) was born in Japan, Higher Brothers are Chinese, while NIKI is Indonesian. I cannot emphasize just how good 88rising is at finding undiscovered Asian artists then making them the stars they were born to be. I mean, their biggest rapper, Rich Brian, was born and raised in Indonesia and learned English through listening to rap music. Imagine the awesome songs the world would have never gotten to hear if 88rising did not pick this talented man up.

I’ve also included our favorite actress-rapper, Awkwafina (she does not need further explanation), a former K-pop artist Tiffany Young who just started her solo career in the States, Parekh & Singh, a pop duo from India, and Yuna, the most famous female vocalist in Malaysia. We end strong with some throwback tune from the group that redefined electronica — Far East Movement.

These amazing artists come from all over the place: some were born and raised in America, some spent a decade as a K-pop girl group member, while others had to learn English on their own through music. But they are all connected by two things — their amazing musical talent and their awesome Asian background.

— Jiwon Lee