With artists such as Kanye West, Drake, Migos and Travis Scott dominating the charts, it’s no
secret that our generation loves Rap and Hip Hop music.
Recently, the genre has been seeing new sounds from even newer artists. Since 2017, the rise of
Asian Rap, R&B, and Hip-Hop has exploded in the U.S. music industry.
The mass media company 88rising is bringing attention to and developing a platform for these
rising Asian artists. Founded by Sean Miyashiro in 2015 as a “vice for Asian culture”, the
company aimed to combine the aspects of pop culture he saw in Asia and America. Miyashiro
describes 88 as a “hybrid management, record label, video production, and marketing company"
Over the years, 88rising has produced content that mixes Hip Hop and Asian culture, serving a
long-ignored audience while also playing into mainstream culture.
“I think, growing up, I was always made to feel that Asian culture wasn’t cool,” Cynthia Guo,
Miyashiro’s assistant, told The New Yorker earlier this year. Not only is 88 shedding light on
Asian pop culture for non-Asian audiences, they are also changing stereotypes about what it
means to be of Asian heritage.
Phil Chen, an adviser from the Hong Kong investment firm Horizons Ventures, which was one
of 88rising’s early supporters, told The New Yorker that whenever he’s in an Uber in the U.S., he
loves playing the driver songs by 88’s artists. “They flip out,” he says. “It’s just so fun for me, as
an Asian, to see an Asian voice being celebrated.”
Now, many of these previously unknown artists are “rising” to the top. Artists such as Joji, Keith
Ape, Rich Brian, Higher Brothers, NIKI, and Lexie Liu have partnered with 88 – creating various
music videos and media that have drawn a lot of popularity. Earlier this November, Joji’s
‘Ballads 1’ album leaped to Number One on Billboard’s top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
These tracks have been able to fit into the Rap and Hip Hop mainstream, creating music young
people can relate to, while also producing a fresh sound. Freshman Eva Lieber expresses her
thoughts on 88rising’s massive collaboration Midsummer Madness featuring Joji, Rich Brian,
Higher Brothers and AUGUST 08 saying “I think that it was super cool because of its kind of
related to high school a lot…you don’t have to follow the norm and you don’t have to do what
everybody else does, and that’s what they’re saying. Yeah, I really liked it.”
“88 is the bridge between western and Asian entertainment,” as Joji puts it. As the popularity of
Asian Rap, Hip Hop and R&B grows among western audiences, relationships and respect are
being created among the artists and audiences – cumulating a celebration of culture through
music.
Check out these popular songs by 88rising:
1) Will He – Joji
2) It G Ma Remix – Keith Ape (feat. A $ AP Ferg, Father, Waka Flocka Flame &
Dumbfoundead)
3) Chaos – Rich Brian
