There are many things touched me after reading articles and watching the video “Bad Rap”, everyone’s life is tough, especially for those have big dream but not be recognized, no one can get success without making no efforts. However, there are one point made me lost in thought, “Becoming a rapper is a highly competitive process… However, race is also a force that can hamper their efforts” (Wang Oliver, 2007). It is the worst thing to deny one’s efforts only by his or her race or identity or gender. No one deserves be judged only by something inherent and it would be better if people can discard inherent assumptions.
Race is seared on your whole life, you can choice to identify, or get rid of it. According to Awkwafina who are one of the four rappers in “Bad Rap”, she had a difficult way in becoming a rapper even though she learned music from childhood and studied at Laguardia High School which came out so many popular singers. It is accepted that Asian cannot do rape, but blackness can. There are so many stereotype images about Asian Americans, it not only brings them developmental difficulties, but also put them under so many pressers, such as perceived stress, psychological stress and so on (S. Karlsen, 2002). Even so, she never gives up and want to find a way could not influenced by the labels the world puts on them.
They said that the reason why there are no Asian Americans be good rappers is because they lack talent, however, four rappers in Bad Rap prove that is wrong through their efforts and productions. The situation that Asian Americans have to struggle in mainstream culture is unfair, they are talent not being seen. Except insist on creating, Asian American artists also be called the “neoliberal citizenship” who have to find their national belongings (Chung, Brian Su-Jen, 2016). It is reasonable to confuse in such circumstance, someone just accept they are incapable just like majority’s opinion, but others can challenge this idea and make some achievements. That is a choice and this choice make who you are, it would be better to be the one insists on your own dream and abandon secular language.
There will be fewer Asian American artists if they are resisted by main culture. Because they think Asian American rappers are hard to get commercial value, it is hard to find a record label to help them enter the market and be known by people, however, it is the only way for rappers to show their talent. Is that a vicious circle? And the chief culprit is the fixed idea about rap which could bury good work and lost the chance to innovate. Asian American rappers expressed their thought about race and self-conscious through their lyrics and video, that is pressure for the music field, because it provides more possibility and have broaden it.
It is hard to insert into the culture only contain “white” and “black”, because the perceptions of Asianness is far different from whiteness and blackness and that make Asian American rappers find it is difficult to walk into hip pop at the very beginning. However, it is necessary for all to understand it is wrong and take responsibility to correct it slowly, things will change for the better. For other Asian American rappers, they can find their role models like Dumbfoundead, Awkwafina, Rekstizzy, and Lyricks, and built the confidence to be themselves and find the value of their “American hip pop dream”.