When you think of mainstream Asian American artists, can you think of any? There may be a few but it doesn’t compare to all the other ethnicities of artists that flourish within American media. For me I can name plenty but it is not through iTunes where I view them, its through youtube, which is one of the biggest platforms where a several people of many races including Asian Americans have started to show a lot of their own representation leading into the public. The foundation this group lays for the goal of making a mark for Asian culture in media paves the way with a ton of popular Asian talents who already have their own followings. With Rich Brian entering the group there is a STRONG PRESENCE into the community for Asian Americans because it is like no one really expected them to do so well due to their race, but they basically break through those chains that hold them down, and many artists alike, from showcasing their musical skills. There are several other artists within the group like Joji, who was originally big on Youtube with his channel “TVFilthyFrank” and already had a pretty big presence within the community. His unique personality and unexpected angelic vocals really brings a special vibe to the group and is a great asset to the groups success in achieving their spot in the music business. The media has taken a great liking to both Rich Brian and Joji as they have been featured on several popular interview shows like Youtube channel, First We Feast’s “Hot Ones” where they have to answer questions while eating increasingly spicy wings, and TRL, which is a television show on MTV that presents popular music videos and features several artists as a way for them to promote their newest works to the public. The group also consists of many other brilliant Artists like the Higher Brothers and Kieth Ape who have their own shares of followings within the Asian community and have been popular in asian media and music years before the group was started. The group has had great success recently as their artists have been putting out hits after hits, consisting of singles like “History” by Rich Brian, “Head in the Clouds” by Joji, as well as their hit collaboration of the members in their song “Midsummer Madness” which hit 23rd on the Billboard’s top 100 list. A lot of their music has become extremely popular within the Youtube community, and have expanded onto platforms like Spotify and iTunes which are known for letting artists spread and expose their music to listeners all over the world. 88Rising has taken a big step towards the breakthrough of overcoming the mindset that minorities, like Asian Americans, can’t make it in mainsteam media as they serve as inspiration for other Artists from the same Asian American background.
