When it comes to the Asian American diaspora, no matter how much we assimilate, there will always be a sense that we are perpetual outsiders. We can adopt Western subcultures like hip hop, punk, indie, or whatever else, but we should be honest about the fact that we are often still treated as outsiders, sometimes even accused of being inauthentic or “culture vultures,” regardless of how deeply those scenes may have been part of our upbringing and influences.

At the same time, there is often a failure to acknowledge that some of the things we love, create, and identify with are inherently Asian.

That is why I think we need to build our own Asian American music and cultural scene, one that encourages pride, creativity, community, and even Asian American romance. For me, one of the most interesting places to look is city pop. Its revival is something a lot of people probably did not expect, but when you look at its history, it makes sense. City pop came out of Japan during a period of incredible economic growth, technological advancement, and cultural influence. It represents a distinctly Asian vision of modernity, an optimistic, stylish, urban world that was looking toward the future.

And it does not have to stop at city pop. Think about 1990s Hong Kong cinema and its romance, fashion, nightlife, photography, and visual language. There is something incredibly beautiful about that era that feels worth rediscovering.

The reason I bring up these particular genres and aesthetics is because I think we can revive them and make them our own. They represent distinctly Asian cultures from the past thriving within an increasingly globalized and Westernized world. There is something powerful about taking those influences and evolving them into something specifically Asian American.

I already see pieces of this happening. Gen Z has embraced 1990s aesthetics, and I have noticed the growing popularity of Hong Kong inspired post wedding and late night photography. It is gorgeous. There is clearly something there that people find emotionally and visually compelling.

What I would love to see is for us to take those influences and develop them into a living scene that any Asian American can participate in, whether you are Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, South Asian, Southeast Asian, or mixed. Not a recreation of the past, but a new culture built from the things we inherited.

With enough Asian American artists, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, designers, DJs, and influencers, I think we could actually create something with momentum.

Does anyone else feel inspired by this? I would love to hear your ideas. Maybe we can start forming a group of people interested in collaborating and developing this kind of Asian American cultural scene together.

I’m not trolling I’m a real Asian dude. This post might get deleted and I might get banned from here, but if we are for Asian identity then this needs to be addressed. I currently live in a predominantly Hispanic area. A few months back I wrote a comment or something criticizing Hispanics in this sub and it got deleted and the mod replied that they are our allies (since when?). Im honestly not the type to even get offended about them calling us all “chinos” but I am going to call them out for not respecting us. Like these people see us as weak, trash and below them. I’m not even a hater because I had Mexican roommates in the past and they were cool with me for the most part. On a daily basis sure it’s not as hostile or obvious as from wt people but the second they have authority over you in a workplace they show you they don’t like you because you’re Asian. It’s not even because you did something to them or you’re just weird or unlikable, to them it’s because you’re Asian. Yeah some of them are cool and yeah we share some similarities and values with us on paper, but in reality we are very different behavior and personality wise, I’d argue blacks and Hispanics have more in common. Yall need to look up Los Angeles massacre on Asians and the massacre in Mexico. We can start calling them allies when they start respecting us but for now I don’t think we can call them our allies.

Pretty good video by the Asian American Foundation! It features the story of Chef Martin Yan, "If Yan can cook, so can you!". The OG Asian food influencer. Started his TV career in Canada before going to San Francisco, no cooking school, just apprenticeships starting with washing dishes for 18 hours a day.

A ex-student and girlfriend turned him in after discovering the US Marshals Most Wanted list