Cue the Music The Sound of Struggles for Aspiring Asian American Musicians By Susie Chen
“I don’t think you can play this.” While Solberg’s story doesn’t speak for all, it certainly gives insight into the struggles that aspiring Asian American musicians must endure to achieve their dreams. Success is a feat that is difficult for them to achieve because of several factors,
The Struggle with Record Labels
Isha Aran, a reporter for Splinter News, commented on Park’s fame. “All it took was leaving the country he is from, putting in 12 years of work, and becoming Usher-level famous overseas. And even then, he still might not make it in America,” she said. Aran’s comments highlight a piece of advice that seems common to struggling Asian American musicians: Tap into markets overseas, get a following there, and bring that fame back.
Record labels have concerns about the success of Asian American musicians because there has never been a prominent “first” Asian American musician in Western pop music. The lack of success stories from Asian Americans makes it difficult for them to reach a deal with record labels. This grim reality stems from deeply rooted stereotypes. Perpetual foreigner syndrome is the idea that ethnic minorities are considered “other,” despite being born and raised in America like everyone else. The labeling of “other” onto Asian American musicians pushes them to kickstart their career in Asia rather than in America. In Asia, they feel accepted for who they are, which lowers the barriers to industry entrance. In America, they simply feel unwelcome. One musician who underwent this experience is Jay Park. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Park later moved to South Korea to seek a music and dance career in 2005. He debuted in a K-Pop group called 2PM and later pursued a solo career. Park then made moves to break into the Western music scene, where he
On a more positive note, with modern-day technology and social media, musicians now have more avenues than ever before to promote their music and connect with fans. YouTubers like Jason Chen and Wendy Jie Huang have used their platforms and other mediums like SoundCloud to eliminate the need for labels to act as the middleman.
The Removal of “Asian” from “Asian American” in the Industry Growing up, the media defines what certain ethnicities “should” look like. This limits people’s knowledge of ethnic categories and makes the categories more absolute, leading to racial lumping. Racial lumping occurs when there is an inability to FALL 2021 | 25
model/ Lyle Kam
“It’s so maddening that people think you can’t play something because of your ethnicity,” said Solberg. “We were supposed to play this intro that was more gospel and R&B, and this guy was going around to all of the musicians in the band saying they could play it. Then, he turned to me and said, ‘I don’t think you can play this.’”
became the first Asian American artist under Jay-Z’s label, Roc Nation.
design by/ Mya McGrath
When she was studying classical music, Solberg had role models to look up to, but she felt alone in the pop music scene. She shared a time when a man singled her out and assumed she couldn’t play anything besides classical music.
including the state of theindustry, stereotypes, and disapproval from loved ones.
photos provided by/ @lyle Kam
M
eet Elise Solberg. She is a producer, songwriter, and pianist based in Los Angeles. Born in Tokyo, Japan from a Japanese mother and an American father, Solberg’s journey in classical music began at the age of 7 when she started taking piano lessons in Tokyo. Later, she developed an interest in pop and indie music.
