I think when I first started out making music here in Los Angeles, a lot of people were really curious about my ethnicity, and you know, whatever questions they had, I'd be more than happy to answer them.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Whatever your ethnicity is, in this life you are going to be on a journey to discover who you are and how you feel about yourself.
When people first meet me, they're always like, 'What are you?' as far as ethnicity. And I've been pegged as 'ethnically ambiguous.'
Sometimes my ethnicity is relevant, other times not. I definitely get the best of both worlds.
I'm proud of my roots. There are not many Asians in the music industry so it's important for me to tell people where I'm from.
Part of the reason that I moved to Los Angeles is that even though my mom introduced me to all kinds of music, I really wanted to work on having my own identify, on being who I am and doing what I do, and seeing how people responded.
I love doing a show that makes no mention of ethnicity.
When I started publishing my work, one of the biggest surprises to me was the recurring question about my background and why I wasn't doing more stories about Asian-Americans.
When I was a young student, I only listened to foreign music, mainly rock music and hard rock. Then I surprised myself by discovering ethnic music. Now I like to listen to music from different places, and in many situations. Even when you work, some ethnic music calms the nerves.
I think why my content does so well with so many different types of people is because it speaks to everyone. I'll make a Soca music reference, I'll use a Tamil word, I'll do a Jamaican Patois accent. I know about all these people, and I'm not afraid to indulge in their culture.
I wish everybody was just ethnically ambiguous. It would make life a lot easier.
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