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felicia-cat-hardy · 3 years

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20 Asian American Musicians To Add To Your Playlist Now

Over the past several years, the K-pop industry in the U.S. has grown exponentially. The fan enthusiasm behind bands like BTS has drawn parallels to The Beatles, and so many K-pop groups have received the same passionate reception. The attention is well-deserved, but Asian artists represent a multitude of musical genres (even just within the K-pop industry) — a fact that should not be overlooked. Whether you're a fan of indie rock, R&B, hip-hop, or dance music, you won't want to sleep on these Asian American musicians.

Asian artists have recently received some long-deserved recognition in the entertainment industry, primarily in film. In 2020, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won big at the Oscars. The following year, Youn Yuh-Jung won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Minari, which also scored The Walking Dead alum Steven Yeun a nomination for Best Actor. However, there's still plenty of work to be done within the music landscape to ensure equal representation is achieved.

BTS, most notably, has seen unprecedented success in the U.S. Still, despite being invited to attend the last three Grammys, they've yet to take home an award, highlighting the discrepancy between their immense success and the Recording Academy's willingness to acknowledge it. Additionally, Asian artists have a harder time landing record deals. As American Idol alumni Paul Kim explained to The New York Times, he was blatantly told by industry execs he would have been signed to a label faster had he not been Asian.

By streaming these artists, you're not only supporting them and their art, but you're subsequently showing industry insiders just how valuable they are. Consider this list sonic proof Asian artists are making exceptional, diverse music that can't be boxed into one genre or sound. Each of these artists prides themselves on breaking boundaries and creating their own rules. You may have heard of a few, but many have been flying under the radar for far too long. Your ears will thank you soon enough.

Melissa Polinar

Polinar got her start in the late 2000s when viral YouTube covers paved the way for success. While artists like Justin Bieber and Lennon & Maisy were sharing music covers, Polinar focused on posting her original music — and her soulful vocals were a hit. In 2019, the Filipino-American songwriter actually re-recorded one of the songs that propelled her career forward, "Try," on its 10-year anniversary.

Eric Nam

Born and raised in Atlanta, Nam moved to Korea to pursue music because he felt he had a better chance of succeeding there. “Even if you look at American Idol, or X-Factor, or The Voice or anything, it was always difficult to see an Asian or an Asian-American make it to a certain point,” Nam told TIME in November 2019. Today, Nam is a highly visible and respected name in the K-pop industry. While he's very proud of his K-pop success, he considers himself a pop singer first. He hopes to grow his success stateside and told TIME, "I want people to hear my music and say, 'I don’t know who this person is,' and I could be Black, white, Latino, Asian — it doesn’t matter, but it’s just a great pop song."

Clinton Kane

Kane's got every making of a great singer-songwriter, and his lyricism will make a fan out of loyal Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith listeners. The Filipino-American singer's impressive vocal range captivates, and his emotion-driven lyrics will melt your heart. One of his more popular tracks, "Chicken Tendies," has upwards of 2 million views and is a must-add to your heartbreak playlist.

Jhené Aiko

As a mixed-race Japanese, Creole, Dominican, and European woman, Aiko has proudly championed her diverse roots throughout her accomplished career. The R&B singer is a six-time Grammy-nominated artist and is well respected within the industry for her philanthropic endeavors. She launched the WAYS foundation in 2017, an organization dedicated to helping cancer patients and their families.

Steve Aoki

Steve Aoki is hardly a newcomer to the EDM scene, but as one of the most prominent DJs in the industry, and one of the biggest Japanese DJs ever, it would be a crime to leave him off this list. Aoki even has his own record label and, in 2016, Netflix released I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, a documentary about his career.

Karen O

As the lead singer for the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Karen O has solidified her spot as a rock music legend. Not only is the Korean-American singer's discography with the band a must-listen for any rock music fan, but her 2019 album with Danger Mouse, Lux Prima, earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance.

H.E.R.

Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, H.E.R. (aka Gabi Wilson) has become one of the most prominent names in R&B. At just 23 years old, the singer-songwriter already has four Grammy wins and 13 nominations. Along the way, she's never shied away from praising her Filipino mother and Black father, Agnes and Kenny Wilson, for giving her the unique perspectives that propelled her musical success.

Toro Y Moi

Toro Y Moi is actually one person (Chaz Bear) and he's become the unofficial king of chillwave. Born to a Filipino mother, the South Carolina native later relocated to California to further his music career. If you need some chill vibes on your playlist, Bear's got you covered.

Ruby Ibarra

Ibarra is a Filipino-American rapper from San Lorenzo, California who also dabbles in spoken word poetry. Her music is meaningful in more ways than one. A number of her songs touch upon her experience as an Asian American woman. In April 2021, she released a powerful song and video called "Gold" with Ella Jay Basco, which exposed the harmful effects of the skin whitening industry.

Ella Jay Basco

You may recognize Basco from her appearance in Birds of Prey, but her music is not to be slept on because it's making major waves. Her song "Gold" with Ruby Ibarra highlights her Filipino heritage. As she told People, "From top to bottom, we wanted to make sure that our Asian-American community was represented with this project."

Mitski

Meet your new favorite alt-rock queen. Mitski's dreamy melodies appeal to the indie-rock crowd more than anything, and, if you're a sucker for a sad bop, this Japanese-American songstress has plenty of those stacked up.

Yaeji

Yaeji was born in Flushing, Queens in 1993 and grew up between the U.S. and Korea. Since she moved around so much as a kid, she found friendship on the internet, where she first connected with the bossa nova, jazz, and Korean indie music that drove much of the Korean DIY scene. She soon returned to the States to attend college, where she discovered a love for producing and DJing. Now, she meticulously blends hip-hop elements with her house-driven sound for a listening experience that is unlike anything else.

Hayley Kiyoko

Kiyoko has been given the nickname Lesbian Jesus since she’s so outspoken about LGBTQ+ representation in the music industry. The Japanese-American singer is a true trailblazer and her pop music genius has landed her hits with Kehlani, MAX, and AJR.

Jay Park

Park is an industry heavyweight. The Seattle native got his start in the K-pop industry as part of the band 2PM, but he went solo in 2009. Today, not only does the star have dozens of hits under his belt, but he has two record labels of his own that specialize in R&B and hip-hop music: AOMG and H1ghr. Park uses his superstar status to give others the spotlight, and he's put his support behind other artists like GOT7's JAY B and Yugyeom, and Raz Simone. Whether you're a self-proclaimed K-pop stan, or you're just recently getting acquainted with the genre, Park's discography is required listening.

Jin Au-Yeung

Born and raised in North Miami Beach, Florida, the Chinese-American rapper, aka MC Jin, has some seriously impressive accolades under his belt. After becoming popular among his musical peers for his epic freestyles, he was signed to Ruff Ryders in 2002 at just 19 years old, becoming the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label in the U.S. He's since parted ways with the label and now travels back and forth between the U.S. and Hong Kong, seeing success in both places. In May 2021, the rapper released a single called "Stop the Hatred" with Wyclef Jean to raise awareness about hate crimes toward Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Olivia Rodrigo

Rodrigo needs no introduction, but I'll do it anyway: This Filipino-American actress-turned-singer-songwriter's mega-hit debut single "drivers license" was unavoidable in January 2021. Its heartbreakingly relatable lyrics about a crush moving on with someone else struck listeners to their core and immediately soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also went viral on TikTok, before making its way into a Saturday Night Live sketch. Rodrigo's songwriting skills have fans likening her to industry heavyweights like Taylor Swift, so it's no surprise her debut album, Sour, is one of the most highly-anticipated albums of summer 2021.

Run River North

Run River North is not just one musician, but three. The band formerly known as Monsters Calling Home is an indie rock band from Los Angeles. The group has an eclectic sound that draws inspiration from each member: Daniel Chae, Alex Hwang, and Sally Kang.

ZHU

When ZHU first entered the electronic music scene, he used an alias and remained anonymous. By 2014, the artist also known as Steven Zhu was ready to share his identity with the world. ZHU got his start in San Francisco, California, but has made his mark on the EDM scene globally.

Darren Criss

Criss rose to fame starring on the television series Glee and he's since proven himself to be a true triple threat. His work can be seen across TV, film, and music. In September of 2018, Criss became the first Filipino-American to win an Emmy in the lead actor category for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He’s also got several full-fledged EPs under his belt.

Amber Liu

Amber Liu (also known mononymously as Amber) is of Taiwanese descent and grew up in Los Angeles. She made a big splash when debuting as a member of the K-pop girl group f(x) in September 2009, but has since gone solo. Her 2019 solo track "Other People" racked up millions of streams, and she’s gearing up to drop her first album of 2021, called y?, very soon. In the meantime, she’s continuing to grow her superstar following on social media, where she has 5 million Instagram followers and over 2.3 million on Twitter.

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kieranreardon772 · 5 years

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Interview with an Expert: A Political Discussion on the Culture and History of the Philippines

*Photo is outdated

The following is an audio-transcription of a 25-minute interview conducted with Professor Smita Lahiri, Ph.D. of Anthropology. Before becoming a current full-time lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, Professor Lahiri has been credited with long-term ethnographic fieldwork work in the Philippines on historical research and social theory. She has also written many scholarly publications on the anthropology of the South Pacific region of Asia (https://cola.unh.edu/person/smita-lahiri).

I got the chance to sit down for a one-on-one interview with her to discuss various topics surrounding: the history of and current rise of Populism in the Philippines, the interesting relationship between the mass-media landscape and the government, Joseph Estrada’s ‘Vox Populi’ style of presidential leadership in comparison to Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘Charismatic Strongman’ style (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017; p. 68), and as well as the progress of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential term since his election in 2016, including his ‘War on Drugs’ campaign and the Extra-Judicial Killings. Professor Lahiri provides excellent insight via her own memories, personal experiences, and extensive research whilst studying and living in the Philippines.

Interviewer: Kieran Reardon - Senior at the University of New Hampshire

Interviewee: Professor Lahiri - Professor of Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of New Hampshire

Disclaimer: The audio has been edited for length and clarity of information

Follow this link to hear the interview:

https://soundcloud.com/shoelocker456/expert-interview-professor-lahiri-final-edit

INTERVIEW DIALOGUE:

K: Alright, so first and foremost thank you, Professor Lahiri, for taking the time out of your day to sit down and talk with me, I’m very appreciative of that. First, I want to just get an overview of what your role and title here is at UNH, and what your center focus for research here is in your department.

PL: Yeah, so my name is Smita Lahiri. I’ve been at UNH since 2016. I was here for two years as a visiting faculty member and then I applied for a long term position and I am now here as a lecturer in International Affairs and Anthropology. Most of my research has been in the Philippines. I’ve recently started some work in India, which has seen its own Populist upsurge lately. So I have thought about the same kinds of issues. But my research, although I did work on local politics in a kind of semi-urban area on the rural outskirts of the capital city, I looked at local politics and a little bit of environmental politics and various forms of citizen activism and attachment to local place. So I have a sense of Philippines politics and its context sort of set in the larger scheme of national politics, but I wouldn’t call myself a political scientist. I do not think of myself as a specialist on politics.

K: You’re in the Anthropology department, which is kind of just humanity in general. Would you say that it has been more politically focused or culturally focused?

PL: I worked on political culture, so the intersection. I have been interested in things like how local villagers, in particular, see their traditional politicians and the extent to which their willing to and eager to get involved with activism that could support non-traditional candidates. So I got sort of interested in how the local folks that I was hanging out with, whether they would vote for these kinds of candidates, whether they would campaign for them, whether they would consider running for the local election; so that was a sort of side interest of mine. And I was also looking at the same time at how local people sort of lobby and organize for the protection of local culture or heritage; what do we do, how do we protect these sights, how do we maintain their religious character while kind of trying to find sustainable ways of living here and staying on the land and managing our resources and that kind of thing.

K: Wow, okay. That’s a lot to cover.

PL: I’m trying to give you a few snapshots, you know. When you do fieldwork as an anthropologist and you live in a place for a year to two years, I’m sort of trying to pick out some of the things that I think will give you a sense of sort of where I am coming at, like what my vantage point on Filipino politics is, which is in some ways a very grassroots one. But then I’ve also done a fair amount of reading and following the literature so I have some sense of how it fits into the big picture, but it still is a very local view.

K: So, what kinds of conclusions did you find to be most surprising in regards to the people or the way of life or maybe like government authority or policy presence?

PL: When you ask whether something surprising, in my case, I think it's helpful to say surprising in relation to ‘what’. So, I had read a fair amount of academic literature about the Philippines before I went and did my research, and I had been led to expect that there would be very clear and sort of entrenched power-bases, like I was expecting that people would say: “okay, so-and-so or so-and-so, these are the powerful families around here; that’s who you vote for if we want a bridge built or we want our fiesta paid for, we know he is our guy and we’ve been going to him for generations. And, so, no we are not going to take a risk of voting for some other person whose campaign sounds nice because this is our guy”. That’s what I was expecting. But the area I worked in had a lot of recent migrants; it did not have this sort of long-standing culture of like local landlords and elite whom people felt tied to by obligation and loyalty. And, I mean, there were some people who tried to fill that role but on the whole, it was a lot more fluid and open than I thought. People talked a lot about politics. There certainly is a lot of like petty corruption and dissatisfaction with like how things get done or who gets preferential treatment, and how you need to know someone in order to even like get a permit to build or expand your farm or you can’t buy even if you have a deal on it with someone to buy their land. You know, whatever, there’s just a lot of frustrations like that that people are constantly talking about it. I expected people to take that as normal and not to be outraged by it because from what I had read like that is just how life is. But I was surprised at how much people have a clear sense of how they felt things should be, but the gap between the ideal and the actual status-quo was. They had some strong political longings and ideals.

K: But they seem satisfied?

PL: No! No one seems satisfied.

K: Not at all

PL: No, no one seems satisfied. Yeah, because all of the problems I just mentioned were definitely there, and also this was poor area and people’s number one complaint was like the government never does anything for us, we have to like go abroad and find overseas contracts to like take care of other peoples’ kids ‘cause they can’t find jobs at home. Like this is a very universal kind of complaint in the Philippines and an idiom in which people voice their disappointment with the political system. It’s like “my country doesn’t provide me with the where-with-all to stay at home and earn a decent living, and so I’m forced to go abroad and work”.

K: You seem very well-rounded in this subject.

PL: I’ve got a lot of different interests.

K: Right, so I was wondering specifically what your understanding about Populism and its approach to politics is?

PL: I will say that since I’ve been going to the Philippines, which is really since the mid-90s, there have been two leaders, elected leaders, who have really embodied Populism. One of them was a guy called Joseph Estrada, right, who was elected in ’98 maybe? They have six-year terms in the Philippines. He didn’t get to serve out his term because he was impeached for a big corruption scandal and then he refused to resign, but there were these massive protests I think in 2002 that ended up forcing him to resign. But he had been a very popular film actor in Thigala movies, an action hero in the 60s and 70s, so he had massive name recognition. And people identified him with the kinds of characters he would play in those movies, who was sort of like a tough guy, a robin-hood figure, like this sort of gangster with a heart of gold; someone who was kind of crude but had his heart in the right place. And he was very like very profane on the campaign trail, he was crude, he told like off-colored jokes, he had lots of mistresses like he was just a larger-than-life character and people loved that. People also felt like because of his persona in movies and what he said that he really cared about the poor, and so I mean I think for me, this was like a classic example of somebody who was able to develop a power-base out of a populist image. ‘Cause he didn’t have that much of a track record, right, so people didn’t really know what to expect from him in terms of populist policies and handouts and whatnot, ‘cause that’s usually often what you think of; basically going to give the people what they want in order to preserve their popularity and power, and so they’re going to make choices which are going to produce short-term gains for people. Now, because Estrada was running for the first time really for a major national position, people didn’t know what it would be like. So with him, it was really all about the image, like that populist image. Anyway, so that was back in 1998, and then there were a series of other leaders who I would say were anti-populist. Like their image was not “give the people what they want”, they were much more in this sort of like “I’m an elite technocrat; I can handle the military, I can handle the economy, I’m highly educated, I come from a political family”. Like they had many other kinds of qualifications.

K: Would you say they kind of personified the elite?

PL: Yeah, yeah. And then you have this guy Duterte who came to power in 2016, that’s like eighteen years since Estrada, and in some ways, he was sort of like Estrada, although he never seemed like it to me. Yeah, like his very gritty kind of charisma. And with Filipinos, like non-pretention is like really popular with Filipinos, they really resonate with somebody who seems like completely unpretentious and of-the-people. So, on the surface, they have that in common, but Duterte has many other qualities to his Populism which are really different. For one thing, he has a long history of actually administering a major city. He was a major big-city mayor for a long time.

K: In Davao, I believe.

PL: In Davao, right. And his MO that he rolled out after becoming president was very similar to what he had done in Davao. So his Populism was based on delivering a sense of law and order to the people by persecuting and prosecuting low-level drug offenders and really giving the police guard Blanche to do so. So that was not something Estrada ever did, in fact, his downfall was his complete involvement in a nationwide gambling ring, so like, he was the opposite of Mr. Law & Order.

K: So it seems like the personality really makes a difference in the impact in the way that the leader type takes hold.

PL: Yeah, yeah.

K: So, in kind of rolling off of that, from a populist perspective Duterte is considered to be a political strongman in the sense that he tends to make quick decisions on difficult subjects without any sort of serious input from expertise in his administration. So, I was thinking, what kind of plausible repercussions or impacts could arise from behavior like this, especially coming from a world leader?

PL: Well, he’s really shaken up the special relationship with the United States, which has been a cornerstone of Philippine foreign policy, and even trade policy, since like 1946 when the Philippines became independent from the United States. So that’s pretty big and it seems like he just sort of shot from the hip in doing that. He has also indicated that he wants to get closer to China. And, you know, the decline of American power, which is much discussed about is a reality. And so, looked in that light, Duterte’s decision to like distance himself from America and get closer to China has a certain logic to it, but it also, as you say, came off as like a not-very-well calculated decision. And it’s actually hard to know to what extent that unilateralism and “I’m the decider, I’m doing this” is an act or how much it’s an actual reflection of how he operates. But it’s sort of advantageous to him to like to present himself as though he’s being the off-the-cuff, shooting-from-the-hip guy. I think it's with Populism that’s always a major conceptual puzzle; it’s like how much of what you are seeing is actually as spontaneous or opportunistic as it seems to be, and how much of it is actually part of his strategy.

K: So, as far as the media is concerned, which is definitely marginalized, for the most part, most domestic news publications in the Philippines tend to be biased in favor of the government because there is some sort of hold on them by the government, except for Rappler it seems.

PL: I would say also that the Philippines Daily Inquirer is a very reputable independent established newspaper record. I have heard sort of from friends that they have toned down themselves a bit, but they still are publishing critical pieces. So the Philippine Daily Inquirer is another source I would really recommend.

K: Okay.

PL: But also you have to recognize also that Rappler did not come out of a vacuum like there is a well-established community of investigative journalism that is both pretty well internationally networked and has a lot of legitimacy in Philippine society. So they have some institutional power. Rappler is not “flash of the band” is I guess what I am trying to say. If it were to go away or be suppressed, others would come up and take its place, even though I mean it is sort of singular in lots of ways, but its part of a larger landscape.

K: What do you think is the greatest threat that mass media in the Philippines poses towards the government?

PL: Well, first of all, I think it's very likely that Duterte and people in his circle are involved in the kind of cronyism and opportunistic, self-interested, dabbling in the economy, shall we say, that basically every other Philippines president has been involved in. So I think they are afraid of that coming out. They could be afraid of credible evidence that Duterte himself has been involved in serious crimes, which would be grounds for impeachment. So, yeah I think he personally has quite a lot to fear from the media, and they have been embarrassing to him. I guess I’m not surprised that he’s targeting them so much. But, just you asking that question makes me think it does seem a little bit like he’s gone overboard with the media like he sees them as a huge threat.

K: He’s been illegitimately charging and accusing media

PL: Maria Ressa

K: Exactly. She got Cyber Libel? Giving facts that aren’t true with the intent, ok knowing the damage that they could do.

PL: Yeah, yeah.

K: See, in the US that’s very hard to prove because it’s hard to like prove what someone was thinking at the time like you’re not inside their head so how could you know. It kind of tailors to the idea of our Bill of Rights and Freedoms in the US compared to those in the Philippines if they even have a Bill of Rights.

PL: Yes, they do. Their Constitution is really inspired by the US Constitution; they have a lot of pretty robust rights on paper, and a very robust constitutional law; community and lots of very good lawyers. I mean I guess what I’m saying is although the judicial process can last a long time, it certainly is an option, the government is routinely taken to court and sued.

K: Okay, so there is a good level of civil action that is brought back against the government.

PL: Yeah.

K: So, in your opinion, and through the research you’ve conducted over the years, are there any political or societal vulnerabilities that the government seems to continuously neglect? And, on the contrary, in your opinion, are there legislative and judicial changes that they have made recently that are worth being praised?

PL: I mean I guess I just feel like there is so much talent and human capital in the Philippines that it seems really unfortunate that the government has not been able to produce or generate equitable growth; that a lot of the Philippine economy is still tied-up in agricultural production and sort of in sectors where there is a lot of monopolistic or oligopolistic control. I mean the Philippines hasn’t successfully had land reform, you know. I mean they are redistributing land bit-by-bit-by-bit-

K: But there’s always a fight-

PL: It’s always a fight and incremental. I just feel like the interests of the wealthy continue to really dictate the government’s agenda. In terms of things that it has done, I actually think the disaster relief is possibly something that in some ways the Philippine experience with Haiyan or Yolanda, is that what it’s called?

K: What was it, between 2011 and 2013 they were hit with like four record-breaking natural disasters.

PL: Yeah!

K: So they’ve kind of been in repair-mode for the past five years.

PL: Yes! It’s not so much that the people have been left alone during a crisis and therefore have shown resilience, although that also may be a part of it. But I think in general that the government has been pretty responsive and, from what I’ve read, the government has worked well with international organizations and local organizations in terms of putting together a responsive teams and drawing up what seems like sensible plans for recovery; I think that that probably is something that they deserve some praise for.

K: Switching gears just a little bit, I have two remaining subjects I kind of want to touch upon before I leave you. So as of right now, considering that currently, 20% of the Philippines population lives in extremely impoverished conditions, like the slums, what do you think this does to the influential popular public opinion of the government? Do you think that they are more tailored to think one thing over another as far as their opinion on authority?

PL: Do I think that the presence of a substantial proportion of the population that’s extremely poor means that they vote or think in particular ways? It probably makes them, you know, vote for people who they think will provide them short-term gains or they may not be thinking so much about investment and long-term policies as like “what can I get in the next six months from this government”.

K: Okay, and the last thing I want to touch upon is the idea of extra-judicial killings. So, you’ve heard of them? You know what they are?

PL: Yeah

K: So what can you expect from a media journalist’s standpoint in trying to cover something like this? Especially when they’re the ones probably in the most jeopardy.

PL: Well I think Rappler has done a great job at covering it. First of all, I think they’re really on it. So, they have photojournalists, they have investigative journalists. I’ve heard from scholars who have actually talked to them or, in some cases, moved around with these journalists like they really do their homework. I mean, they are at these sites, they have their own information gathering techniques all over Metro-Manila; they have uncovered a lot of angles that are really valuable. There are a few cases when the media has been pretty helpful and effective in allowing itself to be a mouthpiece or an amplifier for fears and experiences and protests. So, I mean, I think this kind of situation can really create a very big challenge for journalists to do their work and yet do it ethically because people are already in so much danger, so writing or exposing or digging too deep into a neighborhood might well result in- it’d be targeted, right. So it’s a challenge to find ways of covering the subject intensively, thoroughly, sensitively, but also safely. And they’ve also worked with, not just Rappler, but other journalists, who may be afraid to publish in their own media outlets in the Philippines who have worked with the foreign press, so sort of to get the word out, so which has sort of raised international awareness about stories that maybe they don’t feel safe publishing under their own guidelines. So there’s a lot of different tactics and strategies I think they’re using to cover this to make sure that these extra-judicial killings get covered.

K: So, there’s an article I read not too long ago that was a big part of my Special Issue Brief on the War on Drugs was that since 2016 there have been fourteen mayors or vice-mayors that have been murdered. Three were killed out of non-compliance with the Philippines Armed Forces after being approached on a warrant for drug-trafficking or other illegal drug or arms activity. Two were killed for unrelated reasons, but coincidentally within the timeline. And then the remaining nine are believed, with conviction, to have been tasked by an anonymous, government-sponsored, vigilante for two reasons: either for directly the Duterte administration and spreading ‘fake news’ or for accusations of being involved in the national drug-trade and trafficking and therefore in direct violation of the anti-drug movement.

PL: Yeah, right, right.

K: Do you think this is justified? Do you think their actions are-

PL: No, of course not, no

K: It’s a very extreme motif

PL: It’s not justified at all. Yeah, it’s horrific. It’s also not entirely new in the Philippines.

K: No it’s not. It’s either like a tactical ambush on a caravan, some sort of drive-by shooting, or like an up-close assassination, like at a party or at a bar.

PL: Yeah, a close friend of mine was killed in a tactical ambush like that.

K: Oh my goodness!

PL: Yeah

K: I’m so sorry to hear that, that’s terrible.

PL: It was some years ago, it was during the Arroyo administration. So, Duterte didn’t invent these things I guess is what I’m trying to say.

K: Was the situation kind of on the same lines as what we’re talking about here?

PL: Mmhmm – yep – yeah.

K: Wow.

PL: Final thoughts?

K: Yeah! So my final thought to you: hypothetically, if you were an independent journalist sitting in on a governmental press release by President Duterte or by one of his administrative associates, what is one statement or question that you would want to bring up or ask about?

PL: I guess I would like to, first of all, is to press him on his own various criminal charges that have been made against him, I would want to know how he would address those. But I don’t know, it seems like an exciting opportunity which I’ve never really considered.

K: Well, I would say that about wraps it up. Is there any remaining thoughts, questions, or concerns that you have that are relative to what we’ve discussed?

PL: No

K: Okay, well thank you so much! This was incredible. This was very enlightening for me

PL: Oh good! Good.

K: And I hope it was for you too. I am glad it was worth your time. We went a little over the time limit

PL: It’s okay, that often happens.

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hoynovoy · 3 years

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20 Asian American Musicians To Add To Your Playlist Now

Melissa Polinar

Eric Nam

Clinton Kane

Jhené Aiko

Steve Aoki

Karen O

H.E.R.

Toro Y Moi

Ruby Ibarra

Ella Jay Basco

Mitski

Yaeji

Hayley Kiyoko

Jay Park

Jin Au-Yeung

Olivia Rodrigo

Run River North

ZHU

Darren Criss

Amber Liu

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