5 API Artists to Support during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, here are five API artists contributing to and creating a lasting impact in the music industry today. 

Written by Mahina Adams

Photos courtesy Spencer Sun, Jeremy Leff, Cameron Robert, and Hojean

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month recognizes and celebrates the impacts, achievements, and successes of Asians and Pacific Islanders. In the music scene, API artists have made waves in every genre — from Rich Brian’s raps to Japanese Breakfast’s smooth melodies to the ever-increasing popularity of K-pop with groups like Blackpink and BTS. To help support and acknowledge the work of API artists this May, we compiled a list of artists across varying genres — so you can find the perfect API artist to rock out to.

Photo courtesy of Asian Media International

Kuwada

A brother duo hailing from Honolulu, Hawaii, Kuwada’s music combines elements of hip-hop, reggae, and rock. The group is composed of twin brothers Cameron and Jon Kuwada. In an interview with VoyageLA, the siblings break down their individual interests. Jon prefers to intertwine jazz and R&B in his music and Cameron likes to include sounds reminiscent of alternative rock and indie. In "Starlight"and “Ocean~,” listeners can catch the brothers’ Hawaiian roots with a ukulele that contributes to the duo's overall tropical sound. Jon and Cameron's music represents the easygoing nonchalance that comes with living in paradise. The duo includes Hawaiian influences not only sonically, but also lyrically, with lines like “she a fine wahine” in “Ocean~,” wahine is slang for young woman in Hawaiian. With Jon on piano and Cameron on drums, the duo are inseparable as their differing sounds balance each other out and breathe creative life into their work. The release of “Cherry Cola” in 2017 proved to be their big break after not creating music for four years. With over a million listens on Youtube, the upbeat and danceable track is a great introduction to the band for anyone who wants to check them out.

Raveena

Photo courtesy of Furmaan Ahmed

Raveena, an Indian American musician raised in New York and Connecticut, is influenced by both R&B and pop. When asked about the sound and purpose of her music, she describes it as a way “to help other people (especially women of color) heal and feel more empowered, artistically and spiritually in tune.” The artist's out-of-this-world aesthetic is as captivating as her music, and many of her visuals are inspired by her Indian heritage. Throughout her music videos, she proudly shows her influence from her culture. The video for mama “Mama” showcases the beauty of her immigrant mother with many moments of colorful traditional saris. She also uses her visuals to uplift other women of color, such as in her dreamy video “Sweet Time” which showcases the beauty of other South Asian women and women of different cultures. Her music often delves into themes of self-love, healing, spirituality, and sensuality. In discussing the hardship she has been through in her music, she combines smooth vocals (sometimes in Hindi) with South Asian instrumentals, 2000s R&B, and mellow pop to highlight her healing process. For example, in “Rush,” she uses the kanjira, an Indian drum, in the background. If in the market for more female empowering music, Raveena is the perfect candidate to express the joys and obstacles that come with womanhood and expressing one’s femininity.

Brahny

Photo courtesy of Brahny

Brahny is a Chinese Canadian R&B artist and producer whose music focuses on his own intimate relationships as well as the lack of Asian representation in the arts. Influenced by his Chinese heritage and culture, Brahny blends genres to create a sound that invites listeners to take a dive into his world and background. With a deep voice and slow instrumentals including piano, bass, and strong backbeats, he projects a sense of peace and satisfaction. One theme of his music is exploring the complexities of growing up Asian in a predominantly white community. His song “Apollo” explores his discontent with growing up sans representation in a suburb outside of Toronto. With a swelling orchestral production to back his vocals, he explores the intersection of his Chinese heritage and his youthful innocence in childhood. Intertwined with Brahny's falsettos and synths, the artist spins a modern retelling of love stories from the Beijing Opera in "Paradise." In the music video, he covers his face in black and white paint reminiscent of Chinese opera singers. Brahny is a force to be reckoned with in the R&B industry as he includes elements of his cultural background to create his aesthetic and brand.

Minsu

Image courtesy of Magic Strawberry Sound

Born Kim Min-su, Minsu is a South Korean singer-songwriter that specializes in indie and electronica. After gaining success, she formed the duo Moi. She broke into music in 2018 with the release of her single “The Birthday Song.” If you want to check out her style and sound, “Minsu is Confused” is a great introduction to the music she creates. Accompanied by her dreamy and uniquely airy voice, Minsu croons about love, dancing, and being — naturally — confused. Most recently, she ventured into K-pop with the release of her single “Healthy Food” a disco-dance anthem filled with funky rhythms and quirky lyrics such as “​​Tofu carrots in my mind / Apple cabbage morning juice.” Her signature eccentricity shines through the track as she rapidly lists fruits in English, rhyming items like avocado, broccoli, and acai bowl. In an interview with the Korea Herald, Minsu describes making music as something as natural as eating and sleeping. Whether you dive into Minsu’s more recent transition to dance music or her dreamlike indie from her earlier career, Minsu’s music is worth the listen.

Hojean

Image courtesy of Hojean

Born Justin Hojean Yi, 24-year-old Hojean is a Georgia-based Korean American artist that uses elements of R&B, lo-fi, and indie music to create his own brand of bedroom pop. His music is similar to artists like Omar Apollo and Pink Sweat$, mixing elements of pop and R&B. Hojean sings, writes, and produces his own music from the comfort of his own bedroom. He sings almost exclusively about romantic love. His biggest hit, “Memory,” captures the turmoil of finally getting over a girl and moving on. Growing up in a small town in Georgia, Hojean’s experience of not quite fitting in is integral to the sound of his music. As he told The Kollection, music has always been a safe space for him and he wants it to be a safe space for his listeners too —  no matter how out of place they feel. In an industry that is all too dismissive of Asian artists, Hojean wants to be a beacon of encouragement. In the same interview he says, “I want to get big enough to where my face can just remind a lot of Asian people, ‘Hey, look at his eyes, look at his nose, look at his lips, look at his skin color. I could definitely do that because this Asian person is doing it right in front of me.”

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month is a time to support and learn about API contributions in all forms. Although more work is to be done for the representation of API artists in the music industry, we hope this list of API artists helps expand your music-listening.