I'm still crazy busy with this conference work, but I thought I'd put up a quick post with a link to this article from the New York Times about the obstacles Asian Americans face in trying to become pop stars--the major hurdle being the fact that they are, well, Asian. Notice the emphasis on "cultural authenticity" by members of the music industry:

Natalise’s manager, Andy Goldmark, said that Asian-Americans have lagged behind not because of discrimination but because they have yet to create their own popular music sound the way African-Americans and Latinos have.

“Asian-Americans have tended to follow what’s going in the pop world rather than use the Asian-American path to invent new things,” said Mr. Goldmark, a songwriter and music producer and a former vice president for talent at Jive Records.

I'd love to do a detailed comment on all of the not-too-subtle racism of this statement, but all I can really say is, "Oh, barf."

I've got three more posts on the docket, so stay tuned.