Every songwriter starts their journey longing to convey the complexity of the human condition into digestible nuggets of perspective. Somewhere along the way, we learn the craft. We pick up techniques to overcome writer’s block, to avoid clichés, to critique our work, to make every word more potent. Inevitably, we…

June 2020. Long before the film even had the vague title “Untitled Alicia Keys Project”, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius was abuzz. Rumor had it that Netflix was flying an entire crew to shoot a film on the COVID-free island. …

Some of the biggest names in entertainment industry were Wonsal, Gershowitz, Bulsara, Beilin, Konigsberg. Don’t recognize any of them? Perhaps you are more familiar with the Anglicized versions: Warner, Gershwin, Mercury, Berlin, and Allen? After my last article on the music industry’s celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, I was invited…

And how the music industry can do better — The perception of us as Asians who happen to be in America, as opposed to Asian Americans, is so deeply rooted that even well-meaning efforts like Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month features put their foot in it. Now that we’ve wrapped up AAPI Heritage Month, I want to…

#1 Where are you *really* from? “Where are you from?” asked the elderly British gentleman seated next to me. We were at a music conference in Los Angeles. Expecting a modicum of political correctness when attending business functions, I was mildly annoyed at the question. “Canada,” I replied with a smile. “But where is your family…