Students gathered in the University Union for the final Soup and Substance presentation of the year on Tuesday, to discuss the intersection of the hip-hop movement and Asian Pacific Islander culture. Sipping on tomato basil soup, the 36 attendees listened to biological sciences and political science sophomore Emily Hong give her take on the history of both movements and where they overlap.
A diversity advocate for the Multicultural Center, Hong began the presentation by explaining that she would use the term “Asian” to describe both Asians and Filipinos in place of repeating “Asian Pacific Islander” throughout her speech. After the clarification, Hong showed a YouTube video the University of California, Los Angeles produced for Hip-Hop Appreciation Month to introduce her first topic — the history of hip-hop.
Hong first dissected the word ‘hip-hop’ to give a clear meaning of the term’s root. She said it is a combination of being ‘hip,’ or ‘in the know,’ and ‘hop,’ or ‘moving.’ She then said the hip-hop movement began as a positive outlet on the East Coast.
“It started as a 1970s African-American movement to keep kids from getting into trouble in the streets in the Bronx,” Hong said.
She went even further to explain the four central pillars of hip-hop: MCing, DJing, graffiti and breaking.
“All of these refer to a different kind of entertainment. MCing is rapping and DJing is the rhythm and beats, and the two integrated is what we know as rap music. Graffiti is a visual representation of hip-hop. Breaking is break-dancing, the physical representation of hip-hop,” Hong said.
Hong wanted to share this since these forms of hip-hop have recently become some of the most recognized forms of expression.
“It’s giving people an opportunity to speak out in a different way that isn’t necessarily formal, and it’s a way for the young people to present their ideas,” she said.
The presentation then shifted to the corresponding Asian Pacific Islander immigration movement, which was occurring around the same time due to the end of the Vietnam War and the beginning of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. This, she explained, created an identity crisis for the newly-immigrated minority.
As Asian Pacific Islanders began acclimating themselves throughout the ’70s and ’80s by exploring American culture and also establishing themselves as a strong minority, the overlap between hip-hop and Asian culture began to develop — mainly through dance, Hong said. This immersion was the first step in the three-part intertwining of the two blossoming communities.
“In the 1980s, Asians of the north West Coast began to expose a few modes of expression — and they chose to dance,” Hong said. “In Seattle, there was a huge movement of hip-hop dance amongst the Asian population in universities. This was a way for college students of that ‘model minority’ to really express themselves in a different way.”
As Asian Pacific Islanders were integrating hip-hop into their lives, America was integrating something larger — mass media. Hong said the emergence of technology was the second step in the emergence of the movement as its own entity.
“With the beginning of a new millennium, it allowed Asians to really get into mainstream media with the advent of instant communication,” Hong said.
This led to the third step and icing on the cake of the integration process — prevalence. Hong said that the expanding minority quickly became the faces of America’s Best Dance Crew, with Asian Pacific Islander crews winning the past three of five season crowns. She also mentioned Apl.de.ap, a member of the Black Eyed Peas who is part Filipino.
Hong concluded the presentation with a few YouTube videos of the winning dance crews, including Quest Crew and Poreotix, and also a video entitled, “Black White Whatever,” which was done by slam poet Kelly Tsai. She then opened the forum to questions. Soup and Substance student coordinator and social sciences junior Michelle Fox asked why it isn’t more realized in society that the two cultures share an overlap. Hong replied that it’s just not that widespread — yet.
“It’s not that they don’t come together and integrate; it’s that there’s not enough of it. And I think we’re moving towards that direction anyway because there’s a lot more collaboration going on,” Hong said.
After the soup was poured and substance discussed, attendees were impressed with Hong’s extensive knowledge. Computer engineering sophomore Anthony Lipscomb said he felt more aware of the intermingling of the two movements.
“It was good to know where they intertwined. She was very knowledgeable; she knew both points very well,” Lipscomb said. “It’s just very prevalent in the states here, and there’s a lot of people involved and there’s a lot of misconstruing of it — like how people think about it. And knowing is not always a bad thing.”
Psychology sophomore Janet Tu agreed that Hong’s historical outline was useful in understanding the collaboration.
“Growing up in the ’90s, I’ve seen a lot of hip-hop culture, but I never knew the roots of it and how the Asian culture collaborated with the hip-hop culture and started collaborating with the black community as well,” Tu said.
Hong said she was glad to get her point across.
“What I wanted to get across was the fact that these cultures, they didn’t just happen. It intertwined at some point, and it’s still going on,” she said.