“We’re Asian as fuck,” laughs Sean Miyashiro. As the founder of 88rising, the ex-Thump head and Bay Area native of Japanese and Korean descent has set his aim on promoting Asian cultures worldwide, primarily through music. The management and media production company’s core artists are hard-hitting rappers out to obliterate expectations set by hyper-polished K-pop stars.

There’s fast-rising Indonesian trap teen Rich Chigga, whose viral “Dat $tick” video used his unassuming appearance to subvert Asian nerd stereotypes and reveal a menacing flow in the process; Keith Ape, whose Korean-Japanese posse cut “It G Ma” garnered millions more views on its own than the A$AP Ferg-featuring remix used on “Atlanta”; and Higher Brothers, the Chinese rap group whose tough-talking bars are impossible to lose in translation. 88rising also recently started moving outside of hip-hop, teaming up with laid-back, lo-fi dance acts like singer joji and GODMODE-signed producer Yaeji for various projects, mostly highly stylized videos.

“A lot of people are wondering, ‘What is 88rising, exactly? Is it a YouTube channel? Is it a management company? Is it a record label?’’ Miyashiro says from behind large mirrored sunglasses. “It’s actually everything. Our general ethos is that we want to push this shit forward. It’s not like, ‘Hey, we’re trying to change people’s perceptions of Asians.’ We’re just doing it by being alive.”

Their approach seems to be working, too, with mainstream success starting to come. Over the past few months, Rich Chigga has scored features with Skrillex and Diplo, who just this week used Chigga to replace Justin Bieber on a new version of “Bankroll.” The 88rising crew also recently linked up with the esteemed party broadcasters Boiler Room, with more cross-genre collabs to come.

“There’s some fly Asian shit out there, but no one can tangibly give you an example,” Miyashiro says. “That’s insane, when you’re talking about fucking two billion people, and people in the West can’t be like, ‘That’s fucking dope.’”

Lounging in the dripping-with-marble multipurpose room of his Upper East Side apartment building, Miyashiro recently spoke to Pitchfork about Asian representation in hip-hop and beyond.

Sean Miyashiro, 88rising founder. (Photo by Isha Walla)

Pitchfork: How did you come to start 88rising?

Sean Miyashiro: I was in the Bay Area my whole life, and I was going to SXSW every year. One year, I just went with my luggage and never came back. I just went straight to New York from Austin. I didn’t know shit here, I was living rough, it was pretty wild. Basically, electronic music was really popping at the time, and I started this company [Recreation], which managed a bunch of electronic artists. From there, I launched this content platform with VICE called Thump, working there for like two and a half years. The electronic music shit is cool, but it wasn’t my passion. I was like, “Dude, I’m going to do the same thing I did with VICE for Asian culture.” I think this is our time now. Not just Asian people, but cross-cultural appreciation generally and recognizing what each ethnicity has to offer in terms of inspiration distinctive to its culture.