"DJing as a Filipino Thing" 4/11


As Filipina-identified, but born and raised in America, I found this article helpful as it gives perspective to identity issues that I think occur within the Filipino community. I think the viewpoints also illustrate a saddening story of how many Filipinos can not see or refuse to grasp the idea that due to Filipino history, they are of a marginalized group which is defined in the article as “Performative Ambiguity.”  As a result, this article offers that through DJ-ing and hip-hop, these practices become an avenue for self-expression and racial identity.

In relation to Raymond Williams, this article touches on the idea of the DJing culture as a way of showing the “lived experience” of a Filipino. Respondents claims hip-hop as their own by stating “It’s a flipino thing” or they simply grew up with this experience. These responses show that DJing and hip-hop became a way of living through the way they were always surrounded by it. However, by understanding DJing and Filipinoness in this mindset, it naturalizes DJing into simply a common practice. This means that it devalues the Filipino identity by not giving the racial identity credit for the beginnings of DJing. Further lacking the explanation that due to Filipinos’ “invisible identity” in America, is one reason DJing has become a common practice in the Filipino community.

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