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 East Meets Words 6/8 - Part 1 [18:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

As Long mentioned in the recap, last night’s East Meets Words open mic was fiyerr. For those who couldn’t be there, we’ve got a few of the readings recorded: here’s Part 1 featuring readings by Jessica, Giles, and Febo, and Sofia Snow. Tune in for Part 2 coming soon.

Tags: Open Mic, Podcasts.

This month’s East Meets Words series featured Ishle Yi Park and an explosive cast of open mic performers. The East Meets West Bookstore was rocking from the beginning and the rocking did not stop until the very last note was sung. The open mic segment started with Vinh, who performed a passionate piece about family, followed by a soothing reading of Jim Knowles. A woman named Jessica was up next as she read two of her recent poems. The night’s host, Giles Li, shared a piece of his own as he rediscovered his love for writing. The pace of the show kicked up as Febo and Sofia Snow each delivered amazing performances shooting straight from their hearts; we in the audience were left in awe. Ching-In Chen then followed with two stories of her own. David Kong, the human beatbox, provided beats for three Emcees: Victor, Amon, and Theresa Vu. All three brought the house down with their individual and collaborative freestyles.

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Tags: Open Mic, Recaps.

Forget the Girl is playing at the Bulfinch Yacht Club (234 Friend Street, Boston, MA). They’ll be hitting the stage with Project 1.9, Mike Verge, and Ready In 10. Show is 21+ with 7:30 doors. Cost: $8.

I wasn’t planning on posting anything related to the Blue Scholars for a while, since our staff got a little hyper-excited over the release of their new album, “Bayani,” which hasn’t made its way East yet. Plus there’s so many artists on BPR or not on BPR that we would like to give a little shine to, and just haven’t had the chance yet - but I feel compelled to do this one.

The music video for “Back Home” has made its way online, and it is a poignant tribute to folks overseas. Not much more I can say, except that I hope you make time during your day to check it out.

Tags: Video.

1. Prince
I don’t know how this rumor started, but I’ve heard people saying for years that he is one-quarter Filipino. The only proof I can find is one website that makes no references to any sources. He has many Asian qualities: awesomeness, badassness, able to dance in platform shoes, but as much as I would like to claim Prince as one of our own, it would be irresponsible pseudo-journalism to do so. Speaking of which…

2. Jay-Z
I think I can trace the origins of this one. At some point, A. Magazine wrote an article that had something to do with music, and included a sidebar claiming Jay-Z was half Filipino. I remember the exact moment I read it, in a classroom at UMass-Boston, and I remember doubting it right away. My guess is this falsehood cropped up because of Jay-Z’s description of Foxy Brown on “Ain’t No N—,” in which he said she was “fresh to death in Moschino/Coach bag, looking half Black and Filipino”. Someone must have thought he was talking about himself. By the way, turns out Foxy isn’t Filipino either, but is of Indo-Trinidadian descent. Although, I seem to remember her saying she was Chinese Jamaican at some point. Eh, identity’s fluid right?

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Tags: Commentary.

So, I’ve been working on updating the Artists page here at BPR, and I realized that our artists are heavily skewed to Asian American men.

We have 24 different artists/groups listed we have*:

• 1 compilasian album that is mixed gender
• 2 solo artists that are women
• 4 groups that feature both men and women
• 19 groups or artists that feature men (though some have lots of people involved, and guests, the main artists seem to be just men)

So what’s going on? Is this a reflection of the BPR staff? (Severely lacking in estrogen. Wanna pitch in?) Or is this a reflection of independent Asian American music? Have stereotypes about Asian American women affected who attempts to go into the entertainment industry? Is it just because there aren’t any female Asian American drummers besides Lane Kim? Or do Asian American men just rock?

What do you think?

* If my math is off, please let me know. If I’m overlooking people or making assumptions about people’s gender identity, I apologize. The main point is that we have a lot of male artists.

Tags: Commentary.

 

 East Meets Words Open Mic - April 13, 2007 - Part 2 [15:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

As promised, here is the second part of our two part series. It is Jay Legaspi at the East Meets Words Open Mic back in April. I hope you enjoy a few more songs of his. Let him know how much you loved his music on his website jaylegaspi.com. And tell him you heard him here on Boston Progress Radio.

Tags: Open Mic, Podcasts.