‘Bring hope and healing’: Artists look to denounce hate through their music
May is Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It’s a time when we share stories of members of the AAPI community.
Three rappers are using their art to denounce hate at a time when instances of anti-Asian hate have skyrocketed. Data released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism reveals an astonishing increase in Asian hate crimes by 339% last year. That surge in Asian hate crimes is why the “Chinatown Tour” is sweeping across American cities – including Pittsburgh.
Jason Chu, from Los Angeles; Alan Z. from Atlanta; and Jamel Mims from Harlem make up the “Chinatown Tour.” Their hip-hop social justice message rose up as Asian hate crimes ignited.
“The last few years of anti-Asian hate, it makes me deeply sad,” Chu said.
”Throughout the pandemic, Chinatowns all over the states were targets of hate, whether it was violence or vandalism, and so, it caused a lot of businesses to fail,” Alan Z added.
That is why they’re speaking out through their lyrics.
“We have lines in our albums that this is nothing new,” Chu said. “This is a recurrence of something that has happened over and over in history.”
Mims brings a unique flavor to the Chinatown Tour as an African American artist. In 2008, he received a grant from the Fulbright Scholar program to study hip-hop in China. That experience expanded the social justice narrative in his music. He says his time in China gives him a heightened level of sensitivity to Asian hate crimes.
“What is really going on?” Mims asked. “Why is there this escalation of violence, in particular towards Asian people? And why do we see so many divisions and xenophobia exploding in our society right now? and what's the pathway forward from that?”
Chu and Z say Mims’ presence on the tour is not a gimmick. It highlights a merging narrative between Asian and African American communities.
“It could be Black communities, brown communities, it can be east Asian communities, south Asian Communities,” Chu said. “Marginalized communities always bear the brunt of a culture’s fear and a culture’s pain.”
“He understands both cultures very well and we felt like it was a natural fit,” Z said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Hey we need some publicity.’ It’s like no, this guy really gets it, and we have very deep conversations about Black America and Asian America.”
These artists say their mission is to uplift and celebrate Asian American communities. They also want to bring unification of all ethnic groups of all skin colors.
“My mission statement has always been to bring hope and healing to a broken world,” Chu said.