Lee Hom's " Forever 1st Day " Album Diary

89/06/23~89/06/30 @Part 3

I just finished my concert in Taiwan (6/25) and am now back at the hotel writing to you. Thanks to all who came to the show, you were such an energetic and positive audience; I couldn't help but have fun up on stage! But alas, here I am back in my room, and all is quiet. What a contrast from just a few hours ago when thousands of people were singing along with my songs! It's sensations like this that inspire the contrast heard between songs, "Love Is A Stage" and "You Can Tell Me".

As promised last week, today I am writing about Asian American identity, what it means to me, and its influences on my new album, "Forever's First Day".

The entire restaurant is empty save my promoter, a reporter and me, enjoying a tall glass of grapefruit juice. A photographer also hovers around the table snapping candid photos of me responding to the first questions, "What kind of girls do you like?" "When was your first love?", "I heard you recently ended a relationship (shi lian)". My responses are brief and polite, but inside I am thinking about how to take control over this conversation as quickly as possible. I immediately ask, "Have you listened to my new album yet?". The excuses are well rehearsed, and now it's her turn to be brief and polite. "I've heard 'Forever's First Day' and 'Descendants of the Dragon', oh yes, why did you decide to do a cover version of your uncle's song?" As she asks this question, my grapefruit juice suddenly tastes better, and I reenter the interview with new enthusiasm. After telling he about my new version of the lyrics, her next series of questions are much more interesting, "Tell me about your parents' immigration", "What was it like for a Chinese kid to grow up in the States?", "Do you consider yourself more Chinese or American?". This last question really makes me think.

(now I am back in Shanghai, writing from my hotel room here)

I am an American-Born-Chinese, or ABC, considered a foreigner in America, and also considered a foreigner in Taiwan. I find that quite funny. I grew up in the States, however, I compose Chinese music, speak Chinese at home, have Chinese blood, and lived half of my time during the last five years in Asia. To say that I am only an American acknowledges only part of me, and vice versa.

While living in America, and being exposed to all different kinds of peoples, I always felt especially comfortable with other ABC's. After all, I grew up with the Chinese-American community of Rochester NY, and all of us kids were like brothers and sisters. Even when I went to college, or visited other parts of the world, I often found with ABC's that we had gone through similar phases in our lives, maybe it was growing up playing the violin, having a bowl-shaped haircut between ages four and twelve, or going to Chinese school every Sunday....I found the little things made for an immediate feeling of kinship. This feeling made me join the Chinese American Student Organization (CASO) when I was at Williams College. In CASO, we could get together and cook shui jiao(Dumplings) for New Year's or just watch Chinese movies on the weekends.

"Do you consider yourself more Chinese or American?", she reiterates. "I consider myself to be an American-Born-Chinese. My parents came from Taiwan with nothing, and borrowed 50 dollars so that they could get married in a church with God's blessing. They raised three brothers who grew up to be part of a new generation of descendants of the dragon. This is my story, and this is the story the tens of millions of Chinese living in the U.S., or Canada, or Australia, and all over the world. Twenty years ago, when my uncle sung this song, it had a more local meaning. Now, when you talk about Chinese people, you are talking globally". She nods, but then says, "You consider yourself an ABC, yet most people think of the term ABC as derogatory. We often think of ABC's as irresponsible kids of rich parents who come back to Taiwan and just play. Most of them can't speak Chinese, and we call then bananas". I call that ignorance. This is an important quote that I want her to get right so I say it slow, "Being an ABC is something that I am proud of. Like the rap lyrics my new song 'The World of Wild Imaginations', 'I am who I am, it's alright.'"

That's why my album is not just American pop songs with Chinese lyrics. This was done partly because I know that when the Chinese explosion (like the Latin explosion of 1998-2000) happens in pop music, it will not be with a completely western style of music. It must be music that is recognizably Chinese, yet still pop. The other main reason being I think that Chinese music has great potential and room for development. When will the Chinese explosion happen? In my estimate, maybe as soon as five years, maybe as late as twenty. No matter, the important thing is that our music has its own identity, and we are proud it.

OK, friends that's it for this week. I hope you are all well and in the best of spirits. Good luck with all the tests!

Jia yo! Homeboy