Jeff Chang
Jeff Chang
Taiwanese pop singer known for his Mandarin ballads. His many albums include Autumn Snow, Intuition, Genesis, and The Color of the Night.
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth26 March 1967
academic became crisis entered field focus gave journals movement published riots solidarity weird
I entered at an interesting time, after the L.A. riots, when the field was in crisis. A lot of the movement was down with solidarity with other races, but the riots were a shock. The focus became interracial relations, and they wanted to know what I thought. It gave me a weird credibility in the field. A lot of us got published in academic journals right away.
official power supposed surprised tells truth
That's what it's supposed to do--speak truth to power. I'm not surprised by this...hip-hop tells the micro history, but it also tells the counter-history to the official narrative.
article cutting gave piece remember
I remember cutting out any article I could find about the guy. At the party, he gave me a piece of something he had done. I cried, dude.
narrative point sink teeth
At that point I had a real 30-year narrative to sink my teeth into.
body
It was just one of those nights. It was an out-of-body experience.
assume earn either outsider pacific questions step
It's interesting to me that the questions assume that because I'm Asian-American and Pacific islander that I'm an outsider. But I'm not an outsider to the culture. In hip-hop, you either have something or you make way for someone who does. If you don't have it, step out and learn. I feel I've had to earn my stripes.
academy came couple family hippies loaded remember station theater
I remember when (graffiti film) 'Wild Style' came to the (Honolulu) Academy of Arts. We loaded up the family in the station wagon. At the theater it was us and a couple of hippies from UH.
culture peculiar point understand
There is so much about hip-hop culture that is peculiar to New York, and I got to understand it from that point of view.