25on25- 🌇 I Had A Dream that Asians Took Over Governer's Ball Part 3

You can subscribe to my newsletter here! (New issues come out tomorrow!)

Hey there 👋 
Happy summer y’all! I am currently feeling grateful, joyful, and proud of the fact that I will be turning 30 in four days. There are a lot of things I have gotten wrong about what I thought turning 30 would be like: 1) feeling like Joey from Friends, 2) everything about where I wanted to be professionally, and 3) what achieving happiness and fulfillment in my daily life looks like. This is one of the first times in my life that I can honestly say to myself, and to you–all my loyal listeners, that I feel like I am exactly where I need to be on my personal journey. I’m so excited to keep exploring this path that I’m on, so thank you all for being here with me.

Theme of the month: 🌇 I Hade a Dream that Asians Took Over Governor’s Ball Part 3

Music video by Ardhira Putra

If you are a longtime fan and reader of this newsletter, you may already know that this is one of my favorite times of the year to be curating music. Every year, I like to create a dedicated playlist featuring an entire roster of musicians and artists who identify as Asian (you can also listen to Part 1 & Part 2 as well as I Had a Dream that Asians Took Over Coachella Part 1 & Part 2) and in the past two years, it has also felt like a timely opportunity to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. When creating these playlists, I imagine myself as an A&R Lead, spending hours scouring the corners of Spotify to discover the coolest, chillest, and trillest artists to feature, with the goal of shining a spotlight on artists that I feel are underrated and under-promoted.

This month, I crawled deep into the musical archives to pull out vibes and sounds to combine with modern tracks that are seeing a resurgence in popularity and cultural relevancy. I use the Japanese 80’s City Pop aesthetic and sound as a jumping-off point (which for those who don’t know, sounds like the intersection of vaporwave and future-funk music and is usually paired with retro anime design featuring scenery involving city life awash with pastel colors). Just like any solid festival lineup, I integrate a myriad of genres and styles: from Taiwanese indie-pop to Japanese classic jazz, and Indonesian R&B to Icelandic Chinese singer-songwriter. My hopes are to serve up a delectable auditory omakase experience for you to pair with any upcoming summer festivity. Enjoy!

Song Highlight:
Track 1: Shiawasenomonosashi - Mariya Takeuchi 
I first heard about this artist after realizing that she’s the original singer and songwriter behind the iconic song “Plastic Love” and after my 57th time listening to this cover.

Track 11: Like the Movies - Laufey
I’m sure you will be surprised, just as I was, to learn that this song was released in 2021 and not in the 1950s. I absolutely love how this Icelandic Chinese artist is reimagining jazz in the modern age.

Track 22: One Last Kiss - Hikaru Utada
I will never forget the moment when I first heard “First Love” on someone’s iPod, which used to be my go-to method for discovering new music. I am pretty sure I even asked the person if I could borrow their iPod for one night just so that I could listen to it some more. It’s great to see how she’s still making great music, and even making an appearance in the recent Coachella lineup!

Track 25: Language - Keudae
I’ve listened and watched literally every single Porter Robinson piano cover that she’s done. Her jazzy interpretation of each song brings me so much freaking joy!