When Sean Miyashiro started his music collective and record label known as 88rising in 2016, he had one goal: create a home for Asian American artists.
Five years later, 88rising produced the soundtrack for the first Asian American Marvel film, “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
The film is about Shang Chi, played by Canadian actor Simu Liu, coming to terms with his past and discovering where he belongs in his family’s Ten Rings organization.
All the songs are written by artists directly involved with 88rising including Indonesian singer NIKI and Indonesian rapper Rich Brian.
Although 88rising has become the go-to record label for Asian Americans in the Bay Area, Miyashiro has never lost sight of where he came from.
The collective can be heard chanting their name 88rising during the intro of most songs including “Always Rising” and “Diamonds + And Pearls.”
Miyashiro said when the collective first began, no one knew the name 88rising and now he doesn’t want people to forget who they are.
Originally from San Jose, Miyashiro said the collective, its artists and him have clearly been influenced by Asian American immigrant culture in the Bay Area, which can be heard on every produced track.
“I don't think that you could save me. The Bay, it raised me,” Guapdad 4000 raps in his song, “Foolish.”
Guapdad 400 is an American Filipino and African American rapper based in the Bay Area whose album “1176” was released by 88rising in March.
Shang Chi contains scenes in San Francisco that pair nicely with 88rising’s roots.
One scene in the movie is based in San Francisco’s Chinatown as Red Lanterns sway and Shang Chi walks down windy streets filled with Asian-owned convenience stores and restaurants that sell traditional Chinese dishes called Dim Sum.
“There's always this unspoken camaraderie among the Asian American community up [in the Bay Area],” Mikee Loria, a Filipino American from the Bay Area, said in a Sunday Zoom call.
This is definitely depicted in the movie when Shang Chi is immediately treated like family when visiting his best friend’s home. Her family serves him food and he speaks to them with such familiarity, it’s as if they are related by blood.
Loria says the Bay Area community is not only robust but also extremely tight knit and the movie reflects that in every way.
“The small details like [Shang Chi] taking off [his] shoes before he went into the apartment was very true to [the] Asian American experience,” Loria said.
Just like in the scenes, those details continue with the soundtrack. Songs such as “Baba” and “Always Rising” make direct references to Asian American immigrant parents.
However, instead of the stereotypical strict Asian parent, “Always Rising” talks about all of the culture and love they give their kids.
“Momma call my celly, ‘Food gettin' cold,’ ” Indonesian artist Warren Hue raps in “Always Rising.”
The movie and its soundtrack ditch the Asian stereotypes that are frequently used in U.S. media and instead opt for a more authentic depiction of Asian American culture.
“The parents speak Chinese and then [the characters] respond in English, and I'm just like that's definitely something I do a lot. There's this joke in the middle where [a character] said, ‘I speak ABC and ABC is slang for American-Born Chinese,’ ” Veronica Wang, a Chinese American who lives in the Bay Area, said in a Sunday phone call.
In “Diamonds + And Pearls,” the lyrics are rife with references to bubble tea or boba, a Bay Area drink staple that originated from Asia.
Despite the authenticity of the music, Wang said the film tried to cater to Western audiences a bit too much.
“I honestly think they didn't take enough advantage of the Chinese culture and mythology that was available to them,” Wang said.
Despite some cultural plot holes in the film, the music feels as though they are introducing authentic Asian culture to the U.S.
They’re no longer assimilating but rather asking the rest of the U.S. to understand Asian American culture.
“I think the film and the music gave so much opportunity for Asian Americans to be the spearhead of their own projects,” Loria said.
“Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” wasn’t flawless, but it did open doors to more diverse representation of Asian Americans.
As for Sean Miyashiro and 88rising, I think they’re cementing themselves as Asian-American household names.
