DJing as a Filipino Thing Journal 4/11/2017
Antonio T. Tiongson Jr.'s Filipinos Represent:
DJs, Racial Authenticity, and the Hip-Hop Nation takes an up-close look at DJing in Filipino
youth during the 1990’s-2000’s. To Filipinos, hip hop is part of their culture in
form of art and it is their “rite of passage”. However, Tiongson speaks about
the struggle of self-identity because Filipinos don’t identify Asian-American
due to their culture. I understand why it would be confusing to them since they
have Spanish influences. I have also been confused with my identity. When I was
younger I used to call myself Mexican-American because I took it literally, I
am Mexican and I am American. I then claimed myself to be Mexican because I didn’t
feel like I fit in the American society, then a Latina/Hispanic because that
was the label used on things such as standardized tests. It wasn’t until
college that I found my identity as a Xicana (Chicana) and I truly understood
who I was and how proud I am of my culture. We are from banda and mariachis but
to Filipinos, it is about hip hop and there was a claim that because of lack of
ethnicity, Filipinos were more likely to lose their reputation and I do not
agree. I believe music is a world unifier. Everyone can be connected by a
simple song and even more now that hip hop is celebrated as opposed to shamed
upon.
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