Larissa Lam & Only Won - Asian Americans Make History "Hamilton Parody/Cover"

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, husband and wife Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu (aka Only Won) along with their daughter (Lil Won) produced a music video titled, “Asian Americans Make History”. The video is a  Hamilton cover and parody which mentions all of the contributions Asians and Asian Americans have made in United States History. Their tribute video also mentions all of those who helped pave the way for us, including – Fiipino Labor Leader and Organizer Larry Itliong, Politicians Daniel Inouye and Patsy Mink, Yahoo Co-founder Jerry Yang, Fashion Designer Vera Wang, Journalist Connie Chung, NBA player Jeremy Lin, and more.

You can watch the music video on Larissa Lam’s IG or IGTV profile @LarissaLamMusic

MONSTA X IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

K Pop group Monsta X will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with the release of their highly anticipated English album, “All About Luv”.. The group will be in Southern California on February 14th and have several meet and greets scheduled which include 12pm and 4pm at the Tower Records in Hollywood, another meet and greet at the Barnes and Noble at the Grove at 3:30pm as well as a special performance at the Roxy at 1pm.

The group tweeted, “LA Monbebe, we want to see you! Here’s what we’re doing in your city.”

[#MONSTA_X]
LA monbebe we want to see you! Here’s what we’re doing in your city. #AllAboutLuv#MONSTAX #몬스타엑스 pic.twitter.com/FxiPX4g1EJ

— 몬스타엑스_MONSTA X (@OfficialMonstaX) February 3, 2020

Hello, World!

Monsta X’s North American tour kicks off in Minneapolis on June 2nd and will the group will close out their tour on July 11th at the Forum in Inglewood.

ANDERSON .PAAK PERFORMS ADDS TWO SHOWS IN CALIFORNIA

Anderson .Paak has added a couple of California dates to his Best Teef In the Game Tour including headlining his first show at the Forum on Saturday June 29th. To celebrate his upcoming concert at the Forum, .Paak released a 1minute video that he scored with his friend Thundercat.

.Paak also added a performance on June 26th at the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego. His special guests for both of his newly added California dates will include Thundercat and Earl Sweatshirt.

.Paak released his fourth and most recent album, Ventura last month. Ventura, which was executive produced by Dr. Dre debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and also debuted at #1 on the R&B/Hip Hop charts, as well as hitting #2 on the Indie charts. The album also features special appearances by Smokey Robinson, Andre 3000, Jazmine Sullivan, Brandy, Nate Dogg and Lalah Hathaway.

Tickets for both concerts are currently on sale at www.livenation.com

FILIPINO FILMMAKER MAKES HISTORY AT LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

Diane Paragas and her film, Yellow Rose, will make history at this year’s 35th Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, making her the first Filipina American Filmmaker to open the festival.  

Directed and written by Diane Paragas, the American movie musical follows the story of Rose, played by Tony award nominee Eva Noblezada, a 17 year old girl who tries to fulfill her dream of becoming a country music star all while facing the threat of deportation. Joining Noblezada is Broadway star and Tony Award winner, Lea Salonga who plays Rose’s aunt. Rounding out the cast is Dale Watson, Liam Booth, Gustavo Gomez, Libby Villari and Princess Punzalan.

“I am so humbled that our film has been chosen for this honor.” Paragas told Deadline.com

Paragas also stated that Yellow Rose has taken over 15 years to make and “it couldn’t come at a more important time when anti-immigrant sentiment is at an all-time high. This is a story for everyone facing challenges in finding their voice, their dreams and, more importantly, their home.”

Francis Cullado, the Executive Director of Visual Communications expressed their excitement in showcasing Diane Paragas as the first ever Filipina American Opning Night presentation, saying

“We feel that Yellow Rose’s themes stemming from our collective experiences of what defines American can create cultural cross-connections throughout our diverse communities.”

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will run from May 2nd to May 10th. For more information, you can head to https://vcmedia.org/festival

TIFFANY YOUNG IS IHEART'S BEST SOLO BREAKOUT ARTIST

Tiffany Young received the Best Solo Breakout at the 2019 iHeart Radio Awards, making her the first Korean female to take home a trophy from the iHeart Radio Music Awards show.

“I am so humbled and honored that I can be a aprt of representing young Asian American women in music, and so grateful for my Korean and K-Pop roots that have given me the opportunity to follow my dreams. This award belongs to all the fans around the world who worked hard for this. I promist I will work harder. I want to make you proud.” Tiffany stated in her acceptance speech.

Tiffany Young released her EP Lips on Lips last month and also performed a mini Lips On Lips showcase tour earlier this month. This past November, Young was also the face for H&M’s Autumn 2018 campaign.    

H.E.R. wins two Grammys

H.E.R. who received 5 Grammy nominations, took home 2 Grammy awards this past weekend for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance for her song Best Part featuring Daniel Caesar.

21 year old H.E.R., whose mom is half Filipino and dad is African American has credited her parents for her musicality, stating that she has always been around music her entire life and just gravitated towards instruments. When she accepted her Grammy for Best R&B Album Award, she thanked her family by saying,

“I want to thank first and foremost God, and my parents who are in the building and my wonderful sister. Mom, Dad, this is for all the wonderful sacrifices that you made for me. Thank you for embracing my talents and who I am.”

H.E.R. was born Gabi Wilson but in 2016, changed her stage name to H.E.R. which stands for Have Everything Revealed.

BRUNO MARS HEADS TO SIN CITY

11 time Grammy winner Bruno Mars will be heading to Las Vegas’ Park MGM for an 11 show residency which is scheduled from April 29th to September 14th.

Tickets will go on sale at 10am on February 8th (Live Nation and M Life Rewards member presales will take place on February 6th)

For more information, you can head to the MGM website here.

1ST GRAMMY NOMINATION FOR LEA SALONGA

Lea Salonga, along with her Once on This Island cast received a Grammy nomination (Best Musical Theater Album category) for their cast album. This is the first Grammy nomination for Salonga who was in disbelief. She admitted in a tweet that she had to visit grammy.com to verify the news.

@MSLEASALONGA TWITTER

In the Broadway musical Once on This Island, Salonga plays Erzulie, the goddess of love. The musical follows the story of a peasant girl and a French descended nobleman and the gods that watch over them.  

Joining the Once on This Island cast under the Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album category include albums of The Band’s Visit, Carousel, My Fair Lady and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.

The 61st Annual Grammy Awards will take place on February 10th 2019 at the Staples Center.

TIFFANY YOUNG RELEASES "TEACH YOU" MV AND H&M MEET/GREET ANNOUNCEMENT

Korean American singer and model, Tiffany Young, has been busy this past week with the release of her music video Teach You and the launch of the H&M campaign featuring the young starlet.

The Girls’ Generation member released the music video for her latest single, Teach You and will surely make her fans proud and excited. The 29 year old has described her newest track as “very fun, sweet, but you can say it’s a little dark.” She added that the message for Teach You was to not let anybody mistreat you, especially the person you’re falling for. The video also features her Girls’ Generation members and friends Hyoyeon and Sooyoung.

In addition to the release of her music video last week, H&M also premiered their new music and fashion campaign, titled, Worldwide Autumn 2018 Divided Music Campaign which features Young.  As the face of their new project, Young is seen modeling outfits from classic Autumn pieces to cozy separates and oversized knits which will be available in October in select stores worldwide and online at hm.com.

H&M will be celebrating the launch with a special appearance and Meet & Greet with Tiffany Young on October 3rd at the Hollywood location on Sunset. Tiffany said in a statement,

“I’m so happy to be a part of this. To be back in America and seeing an Asian-American in this H&M campaign really means a lot to me. I hope anybody who sees my pictures in the stores or on social media will be like, cool, I can be like that, or that’s inspiring. Because representation does matter,”

AWKAFINA TO HOST SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Rapper and Actress Awkwafina is scheduled to host Saturday Night Live on October 6. The Crazy Rich Asian’s star will be joined by rapper Travis Scott. The last time an Asian American woman hosted SNL was Lucy Liu back in 2000.

The official announcement was made on Saturday Night Live’s twitter account yesterday with a photo of a cork board with the first three hosts and musical guests kicking off the show’s upcoming season.

Past Asian SNL hosts include Jackie Can, Kumail Nanjiani and Aziz Ansari.

"FOOL'S GOLD" BY ALFA

Alfa dropped her latest music video yesterday for her single “Fool’s Gold.” The music video features preschool students who attend Montessori of Walnut and Montessori of Rancho Cucamonga.

On her Facebook page, Alfa wrote about “Fool’s Gold” saying, “I had a song that inherently just connected - it's all about being who you are, knowing this is what makes you valuable...and who better to deliver this than a bunch of candid, hilarious, earnest, adorable, in-the-moment preschoolers?”  

For more info on Alfa, you can head to her website at www.alfa-music.com

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL HEADS TO LOS ANGELES

The inaugural Head in the Clouds Music and Arts Festival will kick off their 16 city tour on Saturday, September 22nd and will showcase the most groundbreaking artists from all over Asia – including Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, China, and the United States.

The all-star lineup will feature Rich Brian, Joji, Keith Ape, Higher Brothers, NIKI and also include appearances by special guests Zion. T, Yung Bans and LA ‘s hometown hero Dumbfoundead. The Head in the Clouds Music and Arts Festival will also mark the US debut of incendiary Japanese rapper KOHH and the LA debut of LAFF TRAX, the new collaborative project between Toro Y Moi and Nosaj Thing. Closing out the night will be an exclusive and one-of-a-kind super-group performance with all 88rising members performing their biggest hits and collaborations.   

 88rising Founder and CEO Sean Miyashiro stated, “Having our own music festival in LA is a dream come true and something we have always worked toward. 88rising means ‘double happiness’ and that’s what we intend to bring to everyone who experiences this festival with us.” 

The Head in the Clouds Festival is the finale of a yearlong campaign, bookended by the release of the collective’s first collaborative LP, also titled, “Head in the Clouds.” Representing five Asian countries, the 88rising crew gathered in Los Angeles to record for two and a half months, creating a chemistry that can be felt on the album. The LP also features friends 03 Greedo, Playboi Carti, Yung Bans, BlocBoy JB, Famous Dex among many others.

For more information and tickets - https://88rising.com/