are Asians close-minded about music?

[Jelai]

I was having a conversation to a mate of mine on musical tastes and obscure bands, and how people at his school were making fun of him for buying the Sweeney Todd soundtrack (WHICH I THINK IS AWESOME BTW, BOTH ORIGINAL STAGE AND NEW FILM), and what he said hit me:




Most of the students in my school are Asian. Our conversation went something like this:

"So, I bought the Sweeney Todd soundtrack last weekend."

"omglol u bought t3h soundtrack?!?!?!111!one y dident u just |/load it?!!??!!?11 LOLOLOLOLOLROFLMAO"

It makes me ashamed to be Asian.

And then there's the idiots who make fun of me for my taste in music:

"OMG CLASSICAL AND JAZZ?!?!? What are you, like, a hundred years old? LOL!"

"OMG "GREEN FINCH AND LINNET BIRD"?!?!?!? You like listening to a rich white girl complain about how she can't sing? LOL!"

"OMG HARD ROCK AND ALTERNATIVE METAL?!?!?!? Why you listen to that emo s**t? LOL!"

And so on.
---------------------




that made him ashamed to be Asian, and it sort of shames me and saddens me too. emo


I find it quite ironic though since the stereotype is "all Asians only play violin and/or piano" (myself included.......), lol. it's quite true though. I know so many Asians in my school that are piano majors and orchestra majors. I know a good handful that are in World Jazz class too.

edit: but then again, I go to a visual/performing arts high school, so musical preference will be different and open-minded is more present in the school.


as for myself, I pretty much listen to anything, and if I don't like it, I don't make a big deal out of it. I don't go bagging on other people's musical tastes, although I do wish that people were at least a bit open about exploring other musical genres.


also, I find it sad how people these days no longer appreciate classical music.



what are your guys' musical tastes? Does anyone here have an extensive musical taste and break musical stereotypes? Does it annoy you when someone tries to bag on you the typical music stereotype if you tell them about your list of musical taste, and they disagree ignorantly?  

[SDES]

In Australia, if you are Asian, you like:

R&B
Hip-Hop
Some rap
Because you are SUCH a C-walk afficianado

OR

Trance
Hardstyle
Because your life is shuffling, and you are destined to be in the club, once you're over 18 and shuffling is dead.

OR

You like both of the above, because you just like whatever music you know, or you are a trend whore that can't stick to one culture.

Then there are the weeaboos - liking whatever any Korean or Japanese person may make. They are also trend whores, but not in the way where they can actually do anything in real life with such a trend (other than attempt to learn Korean/Japanese).
They won't like American Alternative, Rock and Pop bands, but they'll be happy to listen to Dir En Grey, L'arc en Ciel, Big Bang and some other widely popular Asian band.

Anything else, you're just not 'Asian' enough.



I know there is the stereotype of Asians playing some musical instrument, but around here, if you fit in the above stereotypes, you do not play any instrument, because too many of your friends think ITZ FUKEN GAY KIENT (however, the weeaboo section is quite open for acceptance).


If you are at least a scholarly Asian, you will happily live without these stereotypes, or will at most like the music those groups listen to.  

[incognitotea]

i agree with SDES, i live in aus and asains i mainly know listen to and R&B and stuff.

i hate R&B as if it's like a passion *shudders*

and when i tell some asians at my school that i listen to some jazz, alternitive and indie, they're like "WHAT JAZZ?! LAMMMEE!" the f?

seriously, people nowadays dont even listen to jazz no more, nor respect other people's music taste [from where i live] everything now is like R&B and stuff. *sigh*  

[Sesshomaruka]

a lot of people make fun of me because of the music i listen to,
my schoold usually listening to hiphop and classical rock. when classmates look thro my ipod, they usuallly say "you listen to that emo s**t?" (eg, my chemical romance) or they go, you listen to chinese/korean/jap music? but your not even chinese/jap/korean rolleyes its kinda annyoing, only the azn's at my school are like "HOMG YOU LISTEN TO DBSK, ME TOO!!!" the azns dont make fun of me xD, which is why i mostly have azn friends.  

[k a s u g u m m i]

hey, there are a lot of asians who have a huuuge range of musical taste. my own are a little "weird", relatively speaking; i listen to everything from indie, shoegaze, electronica, alternative, classical (violinist... sweatdrop ), punk rock, indie rap, jrock, hardcore, freak folk, metal; pretty much anything but country or that mainstream Miley Cyrus crap you find on the radio these days.

but it could also just be the influence of the environment i'm in. there aren't many asians at my school at all, and all of my friends listen to the same genres that i do. i actually didn't even know that j/c/kpop/rock/rap etc. existed until i got into high school.
from what you guys were saying before me, it sounds like you have a bazillion asians who all stick together and listen to the same music, so that's where you find the "closemindedness."

and by the way, hella yeah the Sweeney Todd soundtrack kicks a**! xD  

[saku_chan187]

well where i live it depends.
some love R&B, hip hop, and rap.
then some love punk, and rock.
most of my asian friends and me
like both so....not so much.  

[Jelai]

It really breaks my heart to see that there are Asians like that out there that acutally exist. I thought the whole stereotype of "Asians = smart espedcially in math" would mean the same thing with "Asians = smart in music". I guess I'm wrong. neutral

I know back in my old school, all the Asians ever listen too were Rap, Hip Hop, and R&B for the 'gangstaa rice boy breakdacing aZns'. As for the non gangstaaa ones, it was other alternative rock and pop punk. That's it.

but then again, my new school here is different because it's a visual & performing arts high school, so of course there's going to be more open-mindedness on music taste. I have not found any other Asian YET that is like my friend Catherine, who is an art major that listens and appreciates 'oldies' music. She deeply respects Frank Sinatra. She loves jazz and indie type, mellow sounding rock. She loves 40's music. She's very vintage and nostalgic. Her favorite person in the whole wide world is Abraham Lincoln, and draws all these really cool Abe Lincoln, whales, vintage-y and comic book stuff. You can view her DeviantART here:

http://blueludebar.deviantart.com/


If she were to go to a regular high school, I know she'll be made fun of right away and be called "weird". But here in our school, she has more friends than I do (or at least I think so, lol xD)


as for the non-Asians, we got our usual stereotypes, but they don't go bagging on other genres too much. If they don't like it, they just don't like it. If they come across someone with an extensive musical taste, then they respect that person's choice of music.


*sigh*
I wish there were more people like that in this world.


oh yeah as for the whole Asian music thing--I find it annoying how Asians only listen to east Asian musicans. They're forgetting South and Southeast Asians! c'omon there's a lot of good Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Singaporean, etc. musicians out there (Corrinne May definitely heart )!

I'm sort of guilty about that too, but not so much anymore because I got tired of the whole J-rock thing and was only in it for the trend. I only like a few J-rock bands now, ones that actually got me instantly hooked when I first heard their music. The others I have to listen to so many times just to get into it, like L'Arc~en~Ciel. I can never get into their music no matter what, and I pretty gave up on them 3 years ago.


I mean yea sure it's okay for us Asian brothazzz and sistazz to all band and stick together, but c'mon. At least be open-minded about other music and cultures too at the same time. This isn't Asian Nationalism or seperatism we're talking here (and probably to an extreme extent, supremacy).

I listen to a lot of European bands even though I myself am not European.  

[Pretty Leaf]

The Asians at my old high school (just graduated!) listen to mainstream American music of all types (excluding country) as well as J Pop and K pop.
Yea, people do tend to tease those who listen to certain music. I get weird stares when people find out I listen to K pop even though I'm black. xp  

[King Henry]

I have a wide range of tolerance when it comes to music. I even like country. Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, and Rascal Flatts FTW cool LOLZ.  

[Jelai]

lol I don't mind Asians that listen to country. but the whole "weird stares" thing irritate me XD;

although right now I just got this feeling that if some dumb Asian comes across an Asian that listens to coutnry music, that person would be like, "OMG YUU LISTEN TO COUNTRY MUZICKS!? DAS FO WHITE PEOPLZ LULZ" >_________________________________>;;  

[Kyros_DeLove]

Personally, I don't have that problem. I like most music, mainly rock, and people don't care. The only people that make the slightest bother about it are the J-Pop/K-Pop/J-Rock/etc. fans that think I'm weird because I don't watch Asian dramas and don't listen to that stuff... rolleyes  

[King Henry]

Of course there are people who react that way, but it's not only Asians. When I say I like country music, I get weird stares from almost everyone.

One of my friends in high school introduced me to country music. Before I began listening to it, I thought country music was all about cowboys, square dancing, farms, and banjos--since that's what I saw on TV and in movies.

When I finally gave the genre a chance, I discovered that it's not that bad. In fact, I think it's great :] In my opinion, a person cannot proclaim that he is a true lover of music unless he's able to appreciate all kinds.

FYI, the songs my friend introduced me to were "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts and "When You Say Nothing at All" by Alison Krauss. The Flatts have a country rock sound, so you might want to check them out if you like rock music and you'd like to start listening to country dramallama Before you watch "What Hurts the Most," turn down the volume on your speakers/headphones; it's a little loud.  

[metamonkey]

Henry likes country because he lives down south. :]

I think people's tolerance depends on where they live. Back when i was [single digits] years old most peoples listened to hiphop. When i moved to a more diversified city (about 15 miles away) the choice of genre was all over the place. It's weird to see how 15 miles can make a lotta difference.  

[k a s u g u m m i]

yeah. if you think about it, like Henry said, not only Asians react badly to some genres of music. it just seems like they do because Asians often tend to stick together in groups and the intolerance might just be more concentrated. xD  

[BeiZhiMing]

There will always be close minded people.Im not close minded at all.I have techno,j-rock,american rock,australian rock,german rock,j-hip hop,and lot of other cds.I love music so i dont hate on anyones tastes.If everyone was close minded,alot of great bands and singers would not exist.

p.s. im listening to Jay Chou-A Secret I Cannot Tell heart