our modern world is becoming increasingly globalized with every passing day. to not acknowledge the breaking down of barriers between individuals of any culture would be quite obtuse.

with it, however, comes this notion of ‘cultural appropriation’. while i can fully get behind why a native headdress or a bindi might be pretty fucked up, i don’t really see the overarching issue when it comes to white dudes wearing kimonos or having chinese tattoos. like, if you’re white, and you do that, i’ll probably think you’re a little bit silly, but i don’t see how it’s ‘violent’, per say. centuries of colonization and imperalism don’t really contribute to some bro from USC wearing a qipao at coachella.

besides dress, however, there are other things that come from non-western culture that has become more heavily embedded in popular culture today. for example, white girls seeking spirituality end up practicing yoga and becoming yoga instructors. some, of course, care about the culture behind the practice, and must certainly learn about it. but it’s not really entrenched into yoga for people who start practicing to learn the cultural significance behind it. again, do i think that it’s problematic? maybe. but violent? no.

another example is hip-hop. first and foremost, it is undeniable that hip-hop has had a MASSIVE role in shaping popular culture today. sneakers? you can thank hip hop. music? lol i’m not gonna answer that one. dance? lol. DJing? dude, i don’t care if you play EDM, that’s one of the pillars right there.

but hip-hop’s race blind! people argue. and sure, it is. but it’s important to give credit where credit is due. it’s not necessarily violent, i don’t think, but it’s certainly problematic. hip-hop was invented by black people, and we should recognize that.

when i was an awkward little asian boy (not to imply i’m not that now. cause i totally am) in virginia, i didn’t really have an outlet for creativity. i wasn’t that good at sports (nor did i find them especially enthralling), and, to be frank with you, i just wasn’t cool. and, for 14 year-old me, that was a problem. to my adolescent mind, a lot of that had to do with race. and it wouldn’t go away. not only because you can’t really change your ethnicity, but because i was at boarding school. the problem was 24/7.

at episcopal high school, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of the student body is white, christian (duh, look @ the name), and conservative. and so, there were all of these implied stereotypes.

asians just weren’t cool, yo. the problem exacerbated itself because there weren’t any asian people around to prove the stereotype wrong. or, if you did, you were the exception. “you’re not like the others”. “you’re basically white.” and i took to these phrases as compliments. i started to hate the color of my skin, the shape of my almond eyes, my asianness. because if you were asian, that meant you weren’t athletic, weren’t charismatic, weren’t attractive; and most of all, not cool. i mean, nobody ever said it the way i just did. but it was definitely implied.

and because i was asian-american, i was a lot more aware of what was going on. there weren’t very many of us. a couple of upperclassmen, maybe. and i’m sure if they see this post they’ll agree with me. if course, there were some asian students going to episcopal. it was still a smaller minority of the population, and they were essentially walking stereotypes. i resented them at the time, and wanted to set myself apart from them. and, i mean, it kind of worked. i was different. not like the others. i wanted to highlight my americanness. i brought up san francisco a lot in conversation. repeat that i was not full blooded.

now, maybe it was just all made up in my head. maybe i was just too sensitive. and so, i went along with all of the asian jokes, and eventually started making them myself. believe me, they most certainly shaped a large part of my existence my freshman year. i would say 90% of my humor involved making constant jokes about being asian. i was acutely aware of myself, and would make racist jokes – about myself – as much as possible.

i’m cringing just thinking about it. i mean, i still find edgy humor funny, but the problem was that it literally made up all of my fucking humor. my friends also most certainly enabled this sort of behavior.

finally, i had enough. i wanted to change, and reflecting on my own perspectives allowed for me to understand the racial platitudes that i was doing to myself. and what saved me? i realized i didn’t have to delve into j. crew or vineyard vines or sperrys.

i don’t wanna be some sort of sidekick.

it is my opinion that role models are incredibly important for children and adolescents. i think that little kids desire above all else to emulate someone who looks like them. it’s why little black kids dream of being ball players or rap stars. it’s because white culture has allowed certain avenues for minorities to succeed.

where are the ‘cool’ asian role models? what do they do? were all of them just programmers or engineers or doctors or lawyers? i couldn’t find them in cinema. i couldn’t find them in sports. where were they?

i eventually found solace. and it was in hip hop.

the jabbawockeez were really, really dope. 14 year-old me loved that shit. damn, they could move – hitting the beat with synchronized isolations, tutting, popping, breaking. and they won america’s best dance crew. the masks came off.

dude, they were asian? from california? what? asian-american?!

enormous cognitive dissonance ensued. you can’t be that cool… and that asian! what?!

finally people who look like me. so i dove into dance. i recorded myself awkwardly trying to pop to immortal technique and even skrillex and shit. i made friends outside of school who were b-boys, and would just go kick it with them. i’d practice by myself, stumbling over my awkward hands and feet. it wasn’t about being cool anymore, for me. it was about improving, getting better at b-boying, hanging with cats that weren’t WASPy. slowly, for me, i got over the stereotypes. i didn’t need to address them, because i had found solidarity in art. it didn’t matter anymore.

korean and japanese b-boys are at the forefront of the breaking scene, and a huge portion of famous hip-hop choreographers and dancers happen to also be of asian descent (many of them asian-american). do i think there’s some sort of genetic predisposition for asian people to be really good at dancing? maybe a little bit. but i think it’s more about the method of cultural exchange.

in white, western culture, assimilation is how minorities get to succeed. it is about you altering yourself in ways to become more palatable to whiteness. most cultural exchange is about capitalism. what can you bring to the table to make us more money?

early hip-hop was about grassroots. large record companies and music labels largely ignored it. it wasn’t about corporate interests. it was about MCs, DJs, b-boys, and graffiti. thank you, kool herc & the zulu nation. there weren’t any socioeconomic barriers to joining the movement. it was easily accessible. inclusive. it was about sharing.

in the 80s, grandmaster flash and the rock steady crew made a trip to japan.

they came alive in yoyogi park, and that was that. cultural exchange. not funded by capitalism, but by a desire to learn. how do you b-boy like that? the progenitors of hip-hop made it their M.O to see to it that people could be ushered in. and they made it clear that the history of their movement was important.

the origins of hip-hop aren’t a secret. people know, for the most part, where it comes from. and sure, people of all backgrounds and races take part in hip-hop. i found an outlet for my creativity, a salve for my soul thanks to it. but it was stressed to me by my b-boy homies that it was important i learn about hip-hop’s rich history. that i respect the art. and, respect where it came from.

in today’s globalized world, i don’t think it’s about claiming ownership over certain cultural things. it’s not about creating these segregated barriers. “only people of indian descent may practice yoga”? “only people of asian descent may get asian tattoos?” those rules sound pretty ridiculous. but, that being said, it was incredibly important to credit the people who created it. give respect to your forefathers, and that is how things become cultural appreciation, and cultural exchange.

so, my dear friends who engage so heavily in hip-hop. who obsess over streetwear and sneakers. who only listen to rap. etc. recognize that you get to find this avenue for your creativity and passion because of blackness. so don’t sit on your laurels and benefit from the rewards hip hop gives you while perpetuating anti-blackness and white supremacy.

yellow peril supports black power. #blacklivesmatter