When I first heard that people were criticizing the Recording Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, my honest reaction was surprise. I didn’t understand why people were upset.
From where I stood, I saw an organization trying to recognize music, languages and cultures that have historically received less attention within the American music industry. Why wouldn’t we welcome that?
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Then I started reading more about the concerns, and I began to understand where some Asian artists and fans were coming from. If you have spent years fighting to have Asian artists recognized simply as pop artists, the creation of a separate category can raise an uncomfortable question: Is this opening another door for us, or building another room that people expect us to stay inside?
The language requirement raises questions of its own. An artist can be Asian and create music that does not prominently use an Asian language. Does that make the music less Asian? Should language define genre or identity?
